The main reason why the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party could not work out a seat-sharing arrangement for the Assembly elections in Haryana was strong resistance from the state unit of the Congress to sharing certain rural seats with the AAP.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was keen on the two parties forming an alliance for the Haryana polls with the main intent being to carry forward the sentiment of opposition unity after the Lok Sabha elections. It was after a nudge from him that the talks between the Congress and the AAP were initiated to work out an alliance in the election-going northern state.
This did come as bit of a surprise since both the parties had in the run up to the elections stated unambiguously that their alliance was limited to the Lok Sabha polls and the state elections were a different matter.
It is learnt that there was staunch opposition to the idea of forming an alliance with the AAP from the Haryana leadership of the Congress. Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was strongly opposed to the idea as was Lok Sabha MP Kumari Selja, who is seen as Hooda’s closest rival in the state unit.
It is learnt that the AAP’s initial demand was of around 10 seats, and the Congress was ready to leave a maximum of five seats for the AAP. However, as per sources, the deal breaker was not the number of seats as much as the quality of seats. The state Congress leaders were of the opinion that the party was doing very well in the rural areas and was unwilling to spare some specific rural seats which the AAP was demanding. They wanted the AAP to settle for seats in urban areas, contending that it has better traction in cities as compared to the villages.
The two parties had an alliance in Haryana for the Lok Sabha polls, with the Congress contesting nine seats and leaving one seat – Kurukshetra – for the AAP. State Congress leaders have argued before the central leadership that the tie-up with the AAP for the parliamentary elections had not benefited the Congress in Haryana at all since the party has little presence on the ground in the state.
The Congress won five seats in the Lok Sabha polls in Haryana, up from zero in the 2019 elections. The BJP won the other five. The state leadership of the Congress is confident that the Assembly elections, like the Lok Sabha polls, would be a direct contest between the ruling BJP and the Congress.
However, there is a concern over disgruntled leaders from the Congress who fail to get tickets to contest in the coming elections either contesting on an AAP ticket or as independents. That seems to be the reason why the party is delaying the declaration of around 50 candidates that remain to be announced for the polls. As per sources, the idea is to do it at the last minute to avoid protests and dissatisfied leaders taking the rebellion route. The last date for filing nominations for the October five elections is September 12.