The negotiations broke down as the Congress refused to meet AAP’s demand for ten seats.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: AAP on Tuesday released its second list of nine candidates for the Haryana Assembly elections, after its negotiations with the Congress for an alliance crashed midway owing to both sides remaining adamant on not conceding space.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party had on Monday afternoon released its first list of 20 candidates. With this, AAP has announced 29 candidates while Congress has in three lists declared the names of 41 nominees.
Of the 29 candidates declared, AAP has fielded candidates in 14 seats where Congress has already announced its nominees. In its second list, the AAP has announced the candidates for Indri, Sadhaura, Thanesar, Ratia, Adampur, Barwala, Tigaon, Faridabad and Bawal constituencies.
Haryana AAP president Sushil Gupta said his party waited till an appropriate time. “The AAP will fight on 90 seats with full strength. Our aim is to defeat the corrupt BJP government,” he said.
The negotiations broke down as the Congress refused to meet AAP’s demand for ten seats. Congress was willing to give only five seats.
While the Congress central leadership, particularly Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, had been keen on an alliance though AAP is not a big force in Haryana, the state leadership was against the idea.
The Delhi Congress leaders were also apprehensive about the idea as an alliance in Haryana could have extended to Delhi where Assembly polls are due early next year.
Congress leaders, who are against the alliance, said their party should not court AAP anymore as it has lost its mojo in Delhi after Chief Minister Kejriwal was arrested and continues to be in jail. They were of the view that Congress need not drag itself to the AAP’s mess and get marked.
Delhi Congress leaders are of the opinion that the present situation provides them with an opportunity to regain some space it lost to AAP in the past ten years. Congress has failed to win a single seat in Lok Sabha or Assembly since 2014.