Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: There does not appear to be much scope for an alliance between the Congress and the AAP for the assembly polls in Haryana and Delhi but the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will fight elections together in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday.
In an interview with PTI, Ramesh said there is no one formula the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will follow for state elections. The grouping will fight together in states where Congress leaders and other alliance partners agree to such an understanding, he said.
Asked whether the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.) will fight the assembly polls together going forward, Ramesh said the alliance will do so in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
"There is no I.N.D.I.A. 'janbandhan' in Punjab. In Haryana, we had given one seat to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Lok Sabha polls but I don't think that I.N.D.I.A. janbandhan will be there for assembly polls. In Delhi, the AAP itself has said that I.N.D.I.A. janbandhan will not be there for assembly polls," Ramesh said.
The Congress and AAP had fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi, while they contested separately in Punjab.
Ramesh said, "In the context of West Bengal also, I had said that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc is for Lok Sabha polls but in states where the circumstances are such that our leaders of the state and leaders of our alliance partners want, the alliance will remain. In Maharashtra, the alliance will be there with Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SCP). In Jharkhand, we have an alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morch." Where state Congress leaders and the respective alliance parties agree, there will be an alliance, he said, adding there is no one formula on which the alliance will be done for assembly polls.
Asked specifically as to whether there would be an alliance in Haryana and Delhi, Ramesh said, "There does not appear to be much scope (for alliance) in Delhi and Haryana."
Jharkhand, Haryana and Maharashtra are slated to go for polls later this year, while assembly elections in Delhi will be held early next year.