Talks on with AAP for alliance in Har: Congress
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi with party President Mallikarjun Kharge during Congress Central Election Committee meeting for the Haryana assembly polls, in New Delhi on Tuesday
New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday said it is in talks with AAP for an alliance in Haryana but nothing has been finalised yet.
Earlier, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh welcomed reports claiming Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has shown interest in the possibility of an alliance with Arvind Kejriwal-led party in poll-bound Haryana. There were several reports claiming that Gandhi, in a meeting of Congress’ Central Election Committee (CEC) on Monday, expressed interest about the possibility of alliance with AAP for assembly polls in Haryana. Asked about the possibility of an alliance with AAP, AICC general secretary in-charge of state Deepak Babaria said, “We are in talks with the Aam Aadmi Party, but nothing has been finalised yet. As soon as something is finalised, we will inform you.”
Responding to another question, Babaria said, “We have to defeat the BJP and not allow votes to be divided.” His remarks came after a screening committee meeting of the party ahead of the CEC meeting later this evening. On whether the Congress will field Vinesh Phogat in the upcoming Haryana Elections, Babaria said, “You will get a clarity by tomorrow.” The Congress’ CEC had met here on Monday and finalised the names of 34 candidates for the assembly polls in Haryana.
“Today, a meeting was held for Haryana by the Central Election Committee. A list of 49 names was presented by the state’s screening committee, out of which 34 have been approved and 15 are pending,” Babaria had said last evening. Voting on 90 assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5 and counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.
Sanjay Singh Singh told reporters that defeating the BJP is a priority of all the opposition parties and added any decision regarding alliance will be taken with the approval of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal.
Singh, however, said any official stand on the issue will be made by AAP’s in-charge of Haryana affairs Sandeep Pathak and state president Sushil Gupta.