The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday said that they were open to alliance with the Congress in 18 seats in Delhi, Haryana, and Chandigarh for Lok Sabha election. However, the Congress stuck to its stand that it was open to an alliance only in Delhi. The new offer comes a day after AAP announced an alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in Haryana and three days after which it called off talks with the Congress.
Later in the day, the Congress also announced candidates for six of the 10 seats in Haryana.
Earlier, AAP was in talks with the Congress for an alliance in 33 seats in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Goa, and Chandigarh. On Wednesday, AAP ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the Congress, stating that the latter was not ready to give AAP seats in Punjab, Chandigarh, and Haryana.
On Saturday, making the new offer during a press conference, AAP senior leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, “Modi-Shah combination is dangerous for the country and to prevent them from coming to power we decided to join anti-Modi forces.”
‘Will talk to JJP’
He said that time has passed for filing nominations in Goa and since AAP is the main Opposition party in Punjab, they have decided to keep the State out of the alliance, but said that the party would not agree for an alliance just in Delhi. The AAP leader did not comment on the seat sharing in these 18 seats. “We will talk to the JJP about the alliance in Haryana if the Congress agrees to the alliance in 18 seats,” he said.
Meanwhile, JJP spokesperson Deep Kamal Saharan said, “If AAP includes the Congress in the alliance in Haryana, then the JJP will opt out of the alliance”.
Impractical deal: Chacko
Reacting to Mr. Sisodia’s offer, All India Congress Committee in-charge of Delhi, P.C. Chacko said that it was ready to have an alliance with AAP in Delhi, but not in other States. “It is impractical to have an alliance in any State apart from Delhi,” Mr. Chacko said.
He added that the Congress would officially announce all of its candidates in a day or two.
Mr. Sisodia said the Congress has to decide whether it wants to “make a record” on the number of seats it contests or defeat the BJP. He also said that the Congress has not officially contacted AAP after the latter announced on Wednesday night that the alliance was not happening.
Since calling off the talks, senior AAP leaders have been attacking the Congress, stating that the latter was not interested in defeating the BJP. Voicing a similar view, Mr. Sisodia said, “I feel that the Congress was intentionally wasting time [in discussions] to create space for the BJP go forward.”
