Congress, AAP open to pre-poll alliance talks for Haryana poll
In a last-minute change of strategy, INDIA bloc partners Congress and AAP on Tuesday opened talks to explore the possibility of a pre-poll alliance for the Assembly elections.
Top sources in AAP told The Tribune that two rounds of talks on seat sharing had already been held between AAP’s Raghav Chadha and Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and a third was expected soon.
“The Congress is ready to give us seven seats but we are demanding 10,” a senior AAP leader said, adding that active efforts were underway to reach a consensus on seat sharing. AAP is demanding 10 seats by the logic that the state has 10 Lok Sabha segments and it had already contested from Kurukshetra as part of a pre-poll deal with the Congress in the recent national elections.
AAP did not win Kurukshetra but the Congress improved its performance considerably by winning five of the 10 seats as against none in 2019.
Congress sources were tight-lipped about the meetings but did not deny the possibility of a deal with AAP being sealed. “Talks are on but not formally. An alliance is possible,” they said. They added that Rahul Gandhi made the proposal of a possible pre-poll deal with AAP in the party’s central election committee meeting on Monday and tasked Venugopal with engaging AAP.
Gandhi asked senior Haryana Congress leaders and screening committee members to assess the ground for a pre-election Congress-AAP tie-up in order to better inform the party’s call on the subject.
The sudden move by Rahul Gandhi took several Congress leaders of Haryana by surprise considering candidate finalisation is almost at the final stages.
“It is surprising to hear of a possible pre-poll alliance with AAP at a stage where the CEC has gone over almost all candidates. Moreover, the Congress is strong in Haryana,” a Congress source said.
The Tribune has learnt that the change of approach on Rahul Gandhi’s part follows recent announcements of two pre-poll alliances in the state between the INLD and the BSP and the JJP and the Azad Samaj Party.
The Congress is conscious that a multi-polar fight can benefit the ruling BJP, which is defending its two consecutive terms and is on the course of a hat-trick in the state.
“These two alliances target Jat and Dalit votes and can benefit the BJP if they succeed in dividing the votes of these segments, which will otherwise opt for the Congress,” said a Congress leader. The BJP, too, is banking heavily on the potential division of the Jat and Dalit votes in favour of the INLD-BSP and the JJP-Azad Samaj Party — a development it hopes will hurt the Congress.
Two rounds held
- Two rounds of discussions held between KC Venugopal, Raghav Chadha, third to follow
- Move comes in the wake of INLD-BSP and JJP-Azad Samaj Party alliances with an eye on Jat and Dalit votes
