CHANDIGARH: With Congress releasing the first list of 32 candidates for the assembly elections in Haryana, its several leaders, including former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, are not in favour of entering into an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), stating that the latter’s performance in the poll-bound state has been “disappointing.” There is palpable tension within the Congress, with some leaders worried that some might turn rebels and contest against the party if they are denied a ticket owing to the alliance. Sources said if leaders start rebelling over the agreement with the AAP, the alliance of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) or Jannayak Janta Party (JJP)-Azad Samaj Party (ASP) might offer them the ticket and turn out to be a problem for the grand-old party.According to official data, AAP got 3.94 per cent of the votes in recent Lok Sabha polls. It was in alliance with the Congress and fought from the Kurukshetra seat. In the 2019 Haryana assembly elections, AAP bagged 0.48 per cent of the votes as it contested 46 seats and forfeited deposits on all segments. The voting percentage was even less than NOTA.Hooda, the Leader of Opposition, does not favour an alliance with the AAP and has reportedly expressed his view with senior party leadership. Hooda has also underscored that the Congress has won five of the 10 seats in Haryana in the Lok Sabha polls, and there was “no need for the alliance with AAP.” According to sources, more than 2,500 people have applied for the Congress party ticket.“Only the AAP will benefit from the alliance, while Congress will be taking the risk of losing all the seats allotted to the AAP,” said a senior leader.As part of the INDIA bloc, the AAP is seeking 10 of the 90 seats from the Congress. In the recent parliamentary polls, Sushil Gupta of the AAP fought from the Kurukshetra seat and lost to Naveen Jindal of the BJP by 29,021 votes. The polls will be held on October 4 with results on October 8.
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