By G Krishna Mohan Rao*The alliance talks over seat sharing between the Congress Party and the Aam Admi Party (AAP ) for the Haryana Assembly polls have hit a roadblock, and the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is planning to contest for half of the seats in the State Assembly, according to sources.
The talks at the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC), on September 6, 2024, could not move forward primarily over the allocation of seats. AAP appeared more eager for the partnership but is now preparing to contest for 50 of the 90 seats independently. The Congress, on the other hand, is reluctant to leave more than 3-4 seats for AAP, despite ongoing negotiations. Inside sources say that the AAP was adamant on at least 10 seats.
Sources said no consensus was in sight over seat sharing. The AAP and the Congress, partners in the INDI Alliance contested the recent Lok Sabha polls in Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi together. In Haryana, the AAP was given the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat. Haryana state president Sushil Gupta contested from Kurukshetra and lost to Bharatiya Janata Party’s Naveen Jindal.
Congress leaders are worried that sharing seats with AAP could harm the party’s prospects, especially in regions like Kurukshetra, where both parties have strong contenders. The Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) leaders fear that an unsuccessful alliance could benefit the BJP, as seen in the previous polls. However, the Congress High Command, in order to strengthen the INDIA bloc against the BJP in the country, favoured accommodating AAP in the alliance, despite state leaders being unwilling.
At the Congress meeting yesterday, where the first list of 31 candidates was finalised and released, there are indications of an unlikely alliance with AAP with both sides hardening their stance. It is learnt that the Bhupinder Singh Hooda faction opposed AAP candidates at several places, proposed by AAP. Despite several challenges, after the CEC, AAP MP Raghav Chadha remained optimistic, stating that efforts are still underway to finalise the alliance for the benefit of Haryana and the country.
The state PCC argued that AAP has almost negligible presence in Haryana and, in the past few months, the Delhi unit of the Congress has been waging a consistent campaign to discredit it in the national capital. The parties had aligned with each other for parliamentary polls but have now a very hostile relationship with each other. Earlier, in Punjab, the two parties had contested against each other and this confrontation had led to a lot of bitterness, which still exists. Against this backdrop, no one was mentally prepared to accept that the party leadership would go in for an alliance with AAP in Haryana, where it is well placed and needs no crutches to march to victory over the BJP.
The Congress Party also feels that AAP is going through a lean patch, with Arvind Kejriwal still behind bars, it is struggling to keep itself relevant. Had it contested the Haryana elections on its own, it would have been difficult for its candidates to save their security deposits. This alliance issue is being viewed differently by different people. There are Congressmen, who want to accommodate the AAP, an INDIA bloc partner, to send a larger message that the alliance at the national level was on.
Thus, by contesting the polls together with AAP in Haryana, the Congress would try to ensure that no anti-BJP votes get divided, leading to the defeat of the saffron brigade. This reasoning is not going well with the workers but no one amongst the seniors is willing to convey this dissatisfaction to the High Command.
It is common knowledge that former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has emerged as the rallying point for most Congressmen in the state, and is likely to be the head of the government if the party wins the Assembly polls. Hooda’s rivals, Kumari Selja, Randeep Surjewala and some others are finding it difficult to digest this and thus have also extended their claim for the top job.
On the other, sources in the AAP claimed that several “disgruntled” leaders of the BJP and the Congress were ready to join the party in Haryana where the Assembly elections will be held on October 5, 2024. The ruling BJP in Haryana as well as the Congress are facing strong opposition from their own leaders over ticket distribution. Several BJP leaders, including sitting MLAs, have announced that they would quit the party after being denied tickets for the polls.
*Senior journalist
