 "Haryana Assembly polls: Why Congress-AAP alliance remains elusive")
After the alliance talks between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections collapsed on Monday (September 9), the Arvind Kejriwal-led party released its first list of 20 candidates. The AAP has fielded candidates for as many as 12 seats where the Congress has already announced its nominees.
The AAP’s Haryana unit has reportedly said it will contest all 90 seats and will release another list of 20 candidates soon. So far, the Congress has declared 41 candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls slated for October 5.
📢Announcement 📢
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) September 9, 2024
The Party hereby announces the following candidates for the state elections for Haryana Assembly.
Congratulations to all 💐 pic.twitter.com/Ulca3eVppu
But why did seat-sharing talks between the Congress and the AAP break down? Let’s understand.
Hopes for alliance in Haryana
It all started last week when Congress MP Rahul Gandhi showed a keen interest in allying with the AAP for the Haryana polls. As per reports, he had sought the opinion of party leaders to explore a tie-up with the AAP.
AAP’s Sanjay Singh had “welcomed” the reports of Gandhi seeking an alliance with his party in Haryana, which has been ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a decade.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSoon after, the two parties reached an ‘in-principle’ agreement to contest together. This came after the Congress and AAP alliance stopped the saffron party from sweeping the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.
Buoyed by the opposition’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi wanted to send the message of unity in the INDIA bloc through the tie-up with the AAP.
The Congress leadership was also considering giving one or two seats to the Samajwadi Party (SP), as per Indian Express.
Dissenting voices within parties
The Haryana Congress faction led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda strongly opposed any alliance with the AAP, as per reports. Last month, the former Haryana chief minister told NDTV that he had not talked to AAP’s state leaders since the general election, adding that in the Hindi heartland state, “the fight is between the BJP and Congress”.
On Sunday, AAP Delhi MLA Somnath Bharti expressed opposition to the alliance, saying the Congress had not campaigned for his party’s candidates in the Lok Sabha election in Delhi.
“Before the AAP-Congress alliance is inked in Haryana, Aam Aadmi Party must evaluate the effectiveness of similar alliance formed in Delhi during Lok Sabha Election. While my national convenor Arvind Kejriwal ji did roadshows for all the three Congress candidates, senior leaders and cabinet ministers of AAP campaigned for all three Congress candidates but AAP candidates especially myself were not supported at all, especially by Congress Delhi and local leaders,” he wrote in a post on X.
Bharti claimed the majority of AAP supporters were not in favour of such a “misfit and selfish” tie-up, adding that the party should go solo in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi.
Some other AAP leaders were of a similar view. “Forming an alliance with Congress for the Assembly election will hurt us in the long run. We came to power attacking the Congress and how can we form an alliance with the Congress at the Assembly level too?” a party leader was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
As per The Wire report, Haryana Congress leaders believed the party was capable of fighting the polls on its own and a tie-up with the AAP would not have added any benefit to the party.
The AAP had contested 46 seats in the 2019 Assembly polls in the state but failed to open its account. The party also failed to win any seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Haryana .
Talks fall apart
As the talks began, the AAP initially asked for 10-15 seats. However, it reduced its demand later and told the Congress it wanted five to seven constituencies of its choice, according to an Indian Express report.
The Grand Old Party was, however, not willing to give these seats – Kalayat, Pehowa, Jind, Guhla, and Sohna – sought by the AAP.
Sources told India Today that the Congress, which is hopeful of upstaging the BJP in the Assembly polls, was offering only three seats to the AAP. The Grand Old Party did not want to part with “winnable” seats and was offering Kejriwal’s party the constituencies that are considered strongholds of the BJP.
On the other hand, the AAP was firm on contesting from the Jind and Kalayat Assembly segments. “We were very clear that there can be no agreement without the Congress offering Kalayat and Jind seats to us,” a source said, as per The Hindu report.
The seat-sharing negotiations failed and the two parties are likely to go solo in the polls.
Speaking to Indian Express, sources in the AAP blamed an “influential leader” of the Congress for “sabotaging” the alliance prospects by terming the seats demanded by Kejriwal’s party as “non-negotiable”. “Hence, we could not find a mix of seats agreeable to both the Congress and the AAP,” he said.
After the AAP released its first list on Monday, its Haryana unit chief said the party will contest all 90 seats on its own. “AAP has made its decision.. we have gone ahead and announced candidates for 20 seats (with a) further list to come as well. We are confident about our outcome on all 90 seats…” he told NDTV.
VIDEO | Haryana elections 2024: "By this evening, we will release our list for all 90 seats... AAP is fully capable of uprooting this arrogant BJP government. Every AAP worker is disciplined. AAP workers are ready to fight with full strength on all 90 seats," says Haryana AAP… pic.twitter.com/bSeQ7WMz5x
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 9, 2024
AAP leader Raghav Chadha had previously said there is a “desire, wish and hope for an alliance” on both sides but the deal would not happen if there was “no win-win situation”.
The Congress and the AAP were expected to release their third and second lists, respectively, on Monday. If they announced the lists today, it would be a confirmed signal of no pre-poll alliance between the two, noted Indian Express.
An agreement between the two parties would have given a boost to the INDIA grouping, “providing a template for the opposition grouping in states where they are each other’s rivals,” as per the newspaper.
The last date to file nominations for Haryana polls is September 12. Time is running out for both parties to forge a deal, else go their separate ways.
With inputs from agencies
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
