AAP and Congress Split in Haryana: Election Alliance Falls Apart

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress party have decided to go their separate ways for the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections on October 5. This decision comes after weeks of talks between the two parties, who are both part of the opposition INDIA bloc, failed to reach an agreement on how to share seats.

AAP Takes Bold Step

On Monday, AAP made a big move by announcing its first list of 20 candidates for the Haryana election. The party's state chief, Sushil Gupta, declared that AAP will fight for all 90 seats in the state. This announcement surprised many who thought the two parties might work together. "We waited enough for the Congress party. Waiting more is difficult," Gupta said after releasing the list. 

Congress Already in Campaign Mode

The Congress party, on the other hand, has been preparing for the election for some time. They have already released three lists of candidates, naming a total of 41 people who will run for office. This shows that Congress was ready to go ahead with or without an alliance. 

Behind-the-Scenes Struggles

Sources say that AAP wanted to contest at least 10 seats in Haryana. However, Congress was not willing to give them more than three seats. This difference in expectations seems to have been a major reason why the two parties couldn't come to an agreement.

Raghav Chadha from AAP and Deepak Babaria from Congress were the main people trying to make the alliance work. Even on Sunday, Chadha had said they were hopeful of reaching a deal. But by Monday evening, it was clear that the talks had failed.

Disagreements Within Congress

Interestingly, not everyone in the Congress party was in favor of an alliance with AAP. While Rahul Gandhi, a top Congress leader, was reportedly keen on working with AAP, some local Congress leaders in Haryana were against the idea. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's group was especially opposed to sharing too many seats with AAP.

The failure of these alliance talks shows how difficult it can be for political parties to work together, even when they are facing a common opponent. As the election date gets closer, both AAP and Congress will now focus on their individual campaigns to win the support of Haryana's voters.