AAP likely to take Cong’s 4-6 seats ‘take it or leave it’ offer

NEW DELHI: After a week marked by flip-flops over forging an alliance in Haryana, Sunday was marked by a 'take it or leave it' offer from Congress to AAP. A likelihood of a tie-up in Haryana between the two parties is hinged on AAP accepting Congress's twin conditions on number of seats and specific constituencies.

Congress added a twist to the tail by releasing a list of nine candidates for Haryana elections. Though a small number after the initial list of 32, that does not seem to impact the alliance talks, but at the same time, added a sense of urgency for going ahead in the Congress camp and not be held hostage by negotiations with AAP, in a clear nudge to Kejriwal's party to make up its mind fast. A decision on a tie-up is likely to be sealed by tonight. AAP sources conceded that Congress had not responded to its offer till late.

With AAP putting off its plan of announcing its first list of candidates on Sunday, it appears Kejriwal's party may be willing to climb down on its demand for 10 seats to move closer to agreeing to 4-6 seats that Congress is likely to cede, sources said.

Congress may also spare 3 seats for SP in Haryana
If the alliance works out, AAP sources said an announcement will follow on Monday. The last date to file nominations is Sept 12.

Congress's Haryana in-charge Deepak Babaria and AAP's Raghav Chadha along with others were engaged in hectic negotiations till late. According to sources, AAP is likely to be offered seats where Congress does not think winnability will be a factor for its candidates or where it performed poorly in the past.

"An alliance seems possible on 4-6 seats if AAP agrees to the nature of constituencies that Congress is offering," a Congress source said. The development comes amid strong opposition from the Haryana unit of the party.

Meanwhile, sources said Congress may spare three seats for Samajwadi Party in Haryana. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has asked Congress for Hathin constituency in Palwal, Dadri in Charkhi Dadri and Sohna in Gurgaon district.

Earlier in the day, Chadha said Congress and AAP were trying to forge an alliance by keeping aside their individual aspirations. He also said AAP will not proceed with the alliance "if there is no win-win situation".

AAP's three-time MLA from Malviya Nagar in Delhi Somnath Bharti cautioned his party against an alliance with Congress by citing how the Congress leadership never campaigned for him when he was the candidate while AAP leaders went all out to campaign and garner support for Congress candidates.


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