Lok Sabha polls over, Congress, AAP set to part ways ahead of Assembly elections

Pradeep Sharma

Chandigarh, June 10

The Congress and the AAP, which fought the recently held Lok Sabha elections as part of the INDIA bloc in Haryana, are set to part ways in the upcoming Assembly elections.

No need for any tie-up

The Congress doesn’t need any alliance for the Assembly elections in the state as it is capable of fighting alone. — Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Former chief minister

Ready to fight on all 90 seats

Though the AAP is ready to fight on all 90 seats, the party high command will take a final call on alliance with the Congress. — Sushil Gupta, AAP Haryana President

Though no formal announcement about the break-up of the alliance for the Assembly elections has been made so far, there are indications that there was no possibility of the alliance between the two non-BJP parties in the Assembly polls.

Buoyed by its success in the Lok Sabha polls in which it won five seats, the state unit of the Congress is in no mood for a tie-up with any other party, especially the AAP. “Since the Congress led on 46 Assembly seats as against the BJP’s 44 seats, we are at an advantageous position vis-à-vis any other party in the run-up to the Assembly elections,” said a senior Congress leader, virtually ruling out alliance with the AAP for the Assembly polls.

Even former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda reiterated his stand after the Lok Sabha elections that the Congress did not “need alliance with any party for fighting Assembly elections in the state as it is capable of fighting the elections alone.”

Since 2014, the AAP has been trying hard to make its presence felt in Haryana, the home state of its national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, but without any success. Though it contested only Kurukshetra seat this time, yet it clocked it’s one of its best performances, securing around 5.13 lakh votes and 3.94% vote share, more than other regional parties such as the INLD and the JJP.

Over the past several months, the AAP has been strengthening its organisational structure across the state, apparently in view of the October 2024 Assembly elections.

When contacted, Sushil Gupta, AAP Haryana president, said though the party was ready to fight on all 90 seats, the party high command would take a final call on any alliance with the Congress.

Earlier this year, Kejriwal had announced at a party rally in Jind that the alliance with Congress was only for the Lok Sabha elections and the party would go solo in the Assembly elections in Haryana.

Meanwhile, Sandeep Pathak, party general secretary (organisation), AAP, will hold a meeting of the Haryana state unit leaders to review the performance of the party in the recent Lok Sabha elections and prepare a roadmap for the upcoming Assembly elections.