Haryana Elections 2024: AAP releases second candidate list as alliance talks with Congress collapse

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday released its second list of 9 candidates for the Haryana assembly elections. In the second list, the AAP named candidates for Sadhpura, Thanesar, Indri, Ratia, Adampur, Barwala, Faridabad, and Tigaon. 

Earlier today, AAP Haryana chief Sushil Gupta said the lists for all 90 seats will be issued and 90 nominations will be filed, hinting at the collapse of alliance talks with the Congress. "There are multiple names for each seat, so scrutiny and other things are being done," he said while speaking to news agency ANI. 

The AAP released its first list of 20 candidates on Monday, after no progress in alliance talks with Congress. Arvind Kejriwal-led party decided to go solo after alliance talks with the Congress dragged on and in view of the nomination window for the polls closing on September 12. The 90-member Haryana Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5. 

The AAP has fielded candidates from Naraingarh, Assandh, Samalkha, Uchana Kalan, Dabwali, Meham, Rohtak, Bahadurgarh, Badli, Beri, Mahendragarh and Badshahpur. The Congress has already announced its candidates from these seats. The talks between the two parties were stuck up over the number of seats to be contested by the AAP. 

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party was demanding 10 seats, while the Congress had offered it only five, sources told PTI. The AAP has fielded its state vice-president Anurag Dhanda from Kalayat, considered to be a stronghold of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and Indu Sharma from Bhiwani. Vikas Nehra has been fielded from Meham, while Bijender Hooda is in the poll fray from Rohtak. 

The AAP and Congress had partnered for the Lok Sabha elections. The AAP contested from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seats, but lost to the BJP. However, it secured leads in four assembly segments and wanted these seats as part of the deal. 

The AAP has fielded Kuldeep Gadrana from Dabwali, a bastion of the Chautala clan. Kuldeep Chikara will contest from Bahadurgarh, Randir Guliya from Badli, Sonu Ahlawat Sheria from Beri, Ravinder Faujdar from Ballabhgarh, Dharmender Khatana from Sohna and Bir Singh Sarpanch from Badshahpur. 

The Congress and the AAP had fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi while they had contested the election separately in Punjab. In the general election, the Congress had given one seat to the AAP in Haryana, which it had contested unsuccessfully. In the 2019 assembly polls, the AAP had contested 46 seats, but failed to win seats.