There is still one month left after the date of Haryana assembly elections has been changed. Earlier the voting was to be held on October 1, now it will be held on October 5. Like BJP and Congress, Aam Aadmi Party had also said that it will fight the Haryana elections alone.
Sunita Kejriwal is leading the Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign, and is seeking votes in the name of her husband Arvind Kejriwal. In election rallies, she is constantly appealing to the people to give their son a chance by voting for him. In between, she also tells how the BJP’s central government has put Haryana’s son in jail in a fake case.
Congress, which failed in 2019, does not want to leave any stone unturned this time, and Rahul Gandhi, who claims to defeat BJP even in Gujarat next time, is also trying his best – and this is the reason why Rahul Gandhi is taking feedback from the leaders of Haryana Congress. This issue has been discussed very seriously in the meeting of the Congress Election Committee.
After the news from the Congress meeting, the Aam Aadmi Party has also reacted. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh has welcomed Rahul Gandhi’s proposal on his part, but has also said that the final decision regarding the electoral alliance in Haryana will be taken by his leader Arvind Kejriwal. Arvind Kejriwal is currently lodged in Tihar Jail in the Delhi liquor scam, who has got bail from the Supreme Court in the ED case, but is still awaiting bail in the CBI case.
Keep in mind, the talks of electoral alliance between Congress and Aam Aadmi Party are currently only about Haryana, not about Delhi at all. After the announcement of AAP leaders to contest the Delhi assembly elections alone, Congress is also now preparing alone – and the current situation is that both the parties are adamant on their respective insistence.
It remains to be seen how far the talks of alliance between Congress and AAP in Haryana elections reach, who have contested elections under the banner of India Block in many states including Delhi except Punjab – the profit and loss of the electoral alliance is a matter for later.
Signs of alliance between AAP and Congress in Haryana
Apart from Delhi, Congress had contested elections in alliance with Aam Aadmi Party in Haryana, Gujarat, Goa and Chandigarh. But, success was achieved only in Chandigarh seat, from where Congress’s Manish Tewari has reached the Parliament. However, after the results came, Aam Aadmi Party broke its alliance with Congress saying that it was limited to the Lok Sabha elections only.
In the meeting of the Central Election Committee of Congress, Rahul Gandhi sought the opinion of fellow leaders on the alliance with Aam Aadmi Party in Haryana. And asked the Congress leaders to give their feedback. Till now it has been seen that wherever the talk of a fresh alliance of Congress with any regional party starts, the local leaders of the party stand like a wall.
Everyone saw it during the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal. How Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary was not ready to form an alliance with Mamata Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress under any circumstances. And he lost his seat as well. Now he has been sidelined even in the Congress.
Also read: Haryana Elections: What is Rahul Gandhi’s strategy behind forming an alliance with AAP?
The latest opinion of Haryana Congress senior leader Kumari Selja has not been revealed yet, but a month ago she did not seem to be in favour of any kind of electoral alliance. In an interview, Kumari Selja said that Congress stands as a strong player in Haryana, and will contest the elections on its own. And if we go a little back, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also said that Aam Aadmi Party will contest the elections alone on 90 seats in Haryana.
But now, it may be due to the compulsion of the situation or maybe the mind has changed, AAP leader Sanjay Singh is expressing a different opinion. On the matter of Rahul Gandhi’s feedback in the Congress meeting, Sanjay Singh says, I welcome Rahul Gandhi’s statement… defeating BJP is our priority… but the final decision will be taken only with the consent of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
AAP’s views may have changed regarding Haryana, but their views regarding Delhi are exactly the same as they were regarding Punjab during the Lok Sabha elections. Whenever there was a meeting of the two parties, the Aam Aadmi Party made it clear to the Congress leaders that Punjab was not at all included in the talks on the alliance.
The relationship is the same as before, but the thinking is changing
The leaders of Delhi Congress have never been seen ready for an electoral alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party. In the Lok Sabha elections, the then state president Arvinder Singh Lovely left the party after being upset with the AAP-Congress alliance in Delhi and again joined the BJP. A similar situation was seen during the time of Sheila Dikshit.
1. Aam Aadmi Party came into politics by running a movement against Congress, and even when it formed the government for the first time, it was with the help of Congress. But after 49 days, the government fell due to the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal.
2. In 2019, Kejriwal took the initiative to form an alliance. But the alliance could not happen due to the Delhi Congress leaders not agreeing happily. Arvind Kejriwal wanted to join hands in Haryana along with Delhi, but things did not work out.
3. Congress seemed more eager for alliance in 2024. Congress wanted alliance in Delhi and other states as well as Punjab, but Arvind Kejriwal did not agree. The old attitude of Delhi Congress leaders was seen.
4. For the first time, Congress has taken an initiative regarding Haryana – and this initiative has not come from any leader of Haryana but from Rahul Gandhi. Aam Aadmi Party has not denied it, but Sanjay Singh has definitely said that the final decision will be taken by Arvind Kejriwal.
If we see, there has been no change in the attitude of the regional leaders of both the parties towards each other, but Rahul Gandhi now wants to play on the front foot in politics. The enthusiasm is high due to the results of the Lok Sabha elections – after becoming the leader of the opposition, his confidence has also increased.
That is why Rahul Gandhi, who had maintained a distance from Arvind Kejriwal for many years, has himself taken the initiative to form an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party. If you look at it, this is a sign of a change in Rahul Gandhi’s old stand on this issue.
Is there any possibility regarding Delhi as well?
1. Both Congress and Aam Aadmi Party will benefit from an electoral alliance in Haryana. Aam Aadmi Party may get a chance to gain a foothold in Arvind Kejriwal’s home state Haryana – and Rahul Gandhi may also get a new support system if he benefits like Akhilesh and Tejashwi Yadav.
2. At present, Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party need more support than Congress. If they get some seats in Haryana, it will be a setback for BJP just like Gujarat. Looking at the performance of Aam Aadmi Party in Haryana so far, it does not seem that it will be able to do anything on its own.
3. It is possible that if the alliance experiment in Haryana assembly elections is successful then Aam Aadmi Party can reconsider the case of Delhi also – and this is also needed by both the parties.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)