NEW DELHI: After hitting hurdles earlier, the Congress-AAP seat-sharing talks before the Haryana assembly polls appear to be moving towards fruition. The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, hinting at a breakthrough on Sunday, said both parties are working to seal an alliance. Earlier in the day, Chadha said both the parties are trying to ally by keeping aside their aspirations. The AAP leader said that while they are yet to reach a consensus in seat-sharing, the talks are progressing in a “positive” direction. He, however, added that the AAP will not proceed with the alliance “if there is no win-win situation. “According to sources, the talks had come to impasse earlier as AAP considered certain assembly seats “non-negotiable.” The party is keen on at least one seat in the Kurukshetra region as well as the Kalayat seat.The last date for filing nominations for the Haryana elections is September 12. The polling will be held on October 5. The talks are happening in a positive atmosphere. Both the parties are working towards contesting the elections together, prioritizing unity and the demands of the people, while setting aside individual party and candidate aspirations,” Chadha told media.The MP, however, refused to divulge details of the seat-sharing talks held so far. “A ball-by-ball commentary cannot be done on the seat-sharing arrangement. Both the parties have the desire and hope to form an alliance,” he added.
The talks were halted on Friday as the AAP stuck to its demand for 10 seats, while the Congress was unwilling to concede more than five seats.
“The talks are underway but there is no final decision yet,” said an AAP source.
When asked about the progress of a seat-sharing formula, Congress leader Pawan Khera told the media there is nothing to comment on speculations.
“The people of Haryana have taken a step towards defeating BJP and with that step, we will also be moving towards that goal,” he added.
Earlier, the Congress and AAP, partners in the Opposition INDIA bloc, fought together in the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat.
Cong names 9 more for Haryana elections
The Congress on Sunday released the names of nine more candidates for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections. With the release of the second list, the party has declared a total of 41 candidates for polls to the 90-member assembly. Sunday’s list include Brijendra Singh from Uchana Kala, Mohit Grover from Gurugram, Anirudh Chaudhary from Tosham, Ashok Arora from Thanesar, Kuldeep Sharma from Ganaur, Paramvir Singh from Tohana, Balram Dangi from Meham, Manju Choudhary from Nangal Chaudhary and Vardhan Yadav from Badshahpur.