INDIA bloc alliance for Haryana polls: Congress ready to give AAP 7 seats, final announcement soon

Haryana Assembly Polls 2024: After much deliberations, INDIA bloc allies, the Congress and the Aam Admi Party (AAP), are likely to join hands for the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls. The Congress confirmed that it was in talks with the AAP for an alliance in Haryana.

Talks for the seat-sharing deal between Congress and AAP are underway, people familiar with the development confirmed to LiveMint. 

AAP spokesperson told LiveMint that there have been two rounds of talks between AAP leader Raghav Chadha and Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal. The third round is scheduled to take place tonight or tomorrow, said the spokesperson.

AAP wants ten seats while Congress has so far agreed to give it 7 seats. There are 90 seats in Haryana assembly

The two parties had an alliance on Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat in 2024 general elections. The seat was eventually won by BJP leader Naveen Jindal.

Congress has already stitched an alliance with the National Conference for the upcoming assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, the Congress maintained that ‘nothing has been finalised yet’, people familiar with the developments said that both parties had reached an ‘understanding’ to ally for the Haryana Assembly elections on October 5.

Earlier, Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh welcomed reports claiming that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has shown interest in the possibility of an alliance with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party in poll-bound Haryana.

AICC general secretary in-charge of state Deepak Babaria had told PTI, “We have to defeat the BJP and not allow votes to be divided.” On whether the Congress will field Vinesh Phogat in the upcoming Haryana Elections, Babaria said, “You will get clarity by tomorrow.”

There were several reports claiming that Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, in a meeting of Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) on Monday, expressed interest in the possibility of an alliance with the AAP for assembly polls in Haryana.

Earlier, the Haryana Congress had been particularly averse to forming an alliance with the AAP. "There is no INDIA 'Janbandhan' in Punjab. In Haryana, we had given one seat to the AAP in the Lok Sabha polls but I don't think that INDIA Janbandhan will be there for Assembly polls. In Delhi, the AAP itself has said that INDIA Janbandhan will not be there for Assembly polls," Jairam Ramesh had said in July this year.

Earlier this year, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said that his party would contest the Haryana assembly polls in all 90 seats on its own strength.

In Haryana, the Congress and the AAP contested the state's 10 Lok Sabha seats 9:1, with the former winning five and the latter none.

The Congress CEC met on Monday and finalised the names of 34 candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls.

Voting on 90 assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5, and the votes will be counted on October 8.