New Delhi: After marathon discussions that offered one twist after the other, the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday said the Congress does not want an alliance in Haryana, while the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is not ready for a tie-up in Delhi alone.
Addressing a press conference, the Delhi deputy CM said that Congress is stuck on the seat sharing formula, while AAP was working on how to defeat Narendra Modi on the maximum number of seats.
“The Congress is not interested in an alliance in Haryana. The option of alliance on 18 seats has been ruled out by the Congress,” Sisodia said and accused the grand old party of wasting the AAP’s time with the discussions.
“Congress wasted time on Goa. Then, it refused to ally in Haryana,” he said, adding that it only wants a tie-up in Delhi, a demand not acceptable to the AAP. “Congress got 10% votes in last elections, yet wants three seats here,” he said.
According to several reports, the two parties had agreed to a 4:3 seat-sharing agreement for Delhi, with four seats going to the AAP, with the condition that the two parties would also contest together in neighbouring Haryana.
The Congress, however, has blamed the Aam Aadmi Party for backtracking on the agreed deal. PC Chacko said the AAP backtracked on forging an alliance after a final understanding over seat sharing in Delhi was reached.
“They want an alliance with us in Haryana but we don’t want it. Why did they back out of Delhi alliance after they made a decision? So we have decided to field candidates in all 7 seats (in Delhi). If they want a rethink, it is up to them,” he said.
Chacko said the Congress will announce its candidates in a day. "I had a discussion with AAP leader Sanjay Singh and we decided on a 3:4 formula. That was finally decided but then AAP was discussing some other states," he said.
"I had always said the situation in one state is different than that in another state and whether there will be an alliance in other states or not we are ready for an alliance in Delhi," Chacko added. He also said that Rahul Gandhi was in favour of the alliance.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party on Friday had postponed the nomination of three candidates to April 22, saying it wanted to give the grand old party another chance. AAP's Sanjay Singh on Wednesday met Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for alliance talks in Haryana in a seat-sharing formula of 6:3:1, sources said.
"Six seats for Congress, three seats for the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and one for the AAP but the Congress abruptly called off the talks," AAP's Naveen Jaihind said, adding that a meeting was also held between former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and AAP party member Sushil Gupta.
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