“We are in talks for an alliance with AAP and are exploring a “win-win situation” for both the parties. The alliance should benefit both of us and we hope to finalise seat-sharing deal in a day or two. If the talks do not succeed in a day or two we will leave it,” AICC in-charge of Haryana Deepak Babaria said.
The Congress leader refused to share the details of ongoing negotiations but confirmed that AAP would be given seats in single-digit. According to reports, AAP has sought 10 assembly seats, but the Congress is not ready to give that many seats.
“It will be a very small number, in single digit,” Babaria said when asked about the number of seats the Congress was ready to give to Kejriwal’s party.
Congress and AAP, which share a blow hot and cold political relations, initiated discussions for a possible alliance at the behest of Rahul Gandhi, who wanted to ensure that opposition votes were not divided in Haryana. The alliance move comes as a surprise as both the parties have in the past made it clear that their association under INDIA banner was limited only to Lok Sabha elections. In fact, the state units of both the parties have spoken against any alliance at the state level. Punjab chief minister and senior AAP leader Bhagwant Singh Mann has gone to the extent of alleging that Congress is in collusion with BJP in Haryana.
So, why are both the parties now trying for an alliance?
The Congress is upbeat about its prospects in the state after the party’s success in the recent Lok Sabha elections in which the grand old party wrested 5 Lok Sabha seats from the BJP. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had won 10 seats with a vote share of 58%, while the Congress could not open its account with 28% of the votes. The AAP, meanwhile. could manage only .36% of the voteshare.
In the assembly elections later in 2019, the BJP lost majority as it won 40 seats in the 90-member assembly with a voteshare of 36.49%. This was 7 less than its 2014 tally. The Congress, meanwhile, increased its tally to 31 seats from 15 in 2014 with 28% voteshare. The AAP, with a .48% of voteshare, lost deposit in all the 46 seats it contested. The BJP did manage to form a government with the help of Dushyant Chautala’s JJP, but the saffron party’s prospects in the state did not improve. The saffron party made a course correction ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections replacing Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as the state’s chief minister in March this year.
However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP’s tally was reduced to 5 seats and its vote share dipped to 46.11%. The Congress, on the other hand, consolidated its gains as it won 5 seats and increased its voteshare to 43.67%. The AAP also increased its presence in the state registering a voteshare of nearly 4%.
The Congress would want to consolidate its gains further and not take any chances. By ensuring that the INDIA bloc contests together, Congress will hope to prevent any possible division of anti-BJP votes. Also the party would hope to benefit from AAP’s influence in seats bordering Delhi where Arvind Kejriwal has a fairly strong presence.
The AAP, which saw its vote share increase in the last Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Congress, had earlier announced to contest all the 90 seats in the state. However, with Arvind Kejriwal in jail, the party perhaps realises that it can make only limited gains if it contests alone. A continued alliance with the Congress may help Kejriwal’s party open its account in the state assembly.
No wonder, the two parties hope that an alliance will be a win-win situation for both of them.
But the BJP has been quick to target Congress over its alliance move. BJP leader Anil Vij has claimed that the Congress lacks strength to contest Haryana elections on its own so it is “cosying up” to the AAP. Political attacks notwithstanding, the fact remains that Congress and AAP are averse to any alliance in states where the two parties perceive themselves as strong contenders to power – like in Delhi and in Punjab.
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