Congress leader and Raebareli MP Rahul Gandhi is keen on an alliance between the grand old party and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections.
Gandhi sought opinions of Haryana Congress leaders over the possibility of an alliance between the two parties during the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting on Monday, India Today TV reported citing sources.
The Congress and AAP contested the Lok Sabha elections jointly in Haryana, Gujarat, Goa, Delhi and Chandigarh. However, senior Congress leader Kumari Selja ruled out an alliance with the AAP for the state polls.
Last month, she said in an interview to newswire PTI that her party was a strong player in the state and would go alone in the elections. Earlier this year, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that AAP would contest in all 90 seats in Haryana on its own strength.
Meanwhile, AICC in-charge of Haryana Deepak Babaria said that discussion was held on 49 seats in the CEC meeting, of which 34 have been declared.
Of the 34 seats, 22 are MLA seats, Babaria added. He said that 15 seats have been sent for review and the pending names will be cleared in 2-3 days. Deepak Babaria also said that all speculations around wrestler Vinesh Phogat will be laid to rest today.
"We will clarify about Vinesh Phogat tomorrow. The list would also be out within two days," the AICC in-charge of Haryana said. If Vinesh contests Haryana assembly polls, she is likely to be fielded against her cousin Babita Phogat in the Dadri assembly constituency.
Vinesh's foray into politics is likely to fuel the controversy around former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Singh has been accused of sexually harassing several women wrestlers.
Several wrestlers, including Vinesh, participated in the protests against Singh, which led to his ouster from WFI. Moreover, Babaria said that the winnability of leaders whose names came up in surveys was a key criteria for deciding the candidates.
Babaria added that candidates who had not lost elections more than 2 times were also considered. Moreover, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda may be fielded from his stronghold Garhi Sampla-Kiloi.
State Congress chief Uday Bhan is likely to contest from Hodal. Elections to the 90-seat Haryana assembly are scheduled to be held on October 5 and the results will be declared on October 8.
The decision was taken keeping in mind a centuries-old festival of the Bishnoi community.