Congress, AAP begin talks for alliance in Haryana, still to work out seats

Sources said that the AAP is keen on the Haryana seats bordering Delhi and Punjab, states where the party is in power.

The Congress is also facing pushback from within its ranks in Haryana on an alliance with the AAP, with the high command, particularly Rahul Gandhi, keen on it and asking party leaders to explore the possibility. The Haryana Congress, led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his camp, is confident of a win and does not want to share seats with any party.

The AAP said it has left the decision to the state leadership, and it would later be vetted by its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

In the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress had contested nine of the 10 parliamentary constituencies in the state, leaving Kurukshetra for the AAP. The Congress had finished at the top in 42 of the 90 Assembly segments in the polls, and the AAP in four. This put the two parties at the majority mark of 46, and just slightly ahead of the BJP, which did reasonably well despite predictions otherwise and finished ahead in 44 Assembly segments.

AICC in-charge for Haryana Deepak Babaria confirmed that discussions were on between the Congress and AAP, adding: “Nothing has been decided yet.”

The Congress has announced the formation of a three-member committee, consisting of K C Venugopal, Hooda and Ajay Maken, for further discussions. The AAP said two rounds of discussions were held between AAP Punjab MP Raghav Chadha and Venugopal on Tuesday.

Asked why the Congress felt the need for an alliance with the AAP, Babaria said: “Wherever the BJP needs to be defeated, we have to stop a division in votes. So we will definitely go for it.”

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also called “defeating the BJP our priority”. However, he added, “Officially, our (Haryana) prabhari Sandeep Pathak ji and Sushil (Gupta) ji will take a call on an alliance after consultations and inform Kejriwal ji regarding the final decision.”

About the AAP seeking nine Assembly seats, a party leader said: “We contested the Kurukshetra seat with the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls. It has nine Assembly segments and so we are looking for a similar number of seats.”

For the AAP, Haryana has the added attraction of being Kejriwal’s home state, though the party has had limited success here.

On whether the SP would be a part of the seat-sharing agreement, Congress leader Babaria said, “There are talks with many alliance partners based on whether they have expressed interest.”

Congress sources said that given that the high command was in favour of an alliance, “it would have to be done”. A senior Congress leader said: “The Congress is in favour of sending the larger message that the INDIA bloc still survives and is willing to come together to confront the BJP’s tyranny.”

In case the AAP didn’t come along, the leader added, “it is no skin off our back”. “They will be exposed as the B team of the BJP.”

Since the boost of the Lok Sabha polls, when the Opposition managed to stop the BJP short of a majority, the INDIA bloc has tried to maintain a united front and managed to put the Narendra Modi government under pressure.

While neither side is expecting the Haryana negotiations to be easy, the AAP clearly has more to gain. “For multiple reasons, including the incarceration of senior party leaders for several months, our campaign in Haryana has not been as widespread and effective as we would have liked,” a senior party leader admitted.

With Kejriwal among those behind bars, his wife Sunita Kejriwal has been campaigning in Haryana. She addressed a public meeting in Charkhi Dadri on September 1 and in Hisar and Mahendragarh in August. Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was recently released on bail, addressed a public meeting in Faridabad earlier this week.

Earlier, there was talk of the AAP and Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) exploring an alliance. In 2019, the two had tied up for the Lok Sabha polls. However, the JJP has been struggling since its alliance with the BJP in government ended earlier this year.