Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday released its first list of 20 candidates for the Haryana Assembly elections 2024. Arvind Kejriwal's party announced its candidate at a time when, both, AAP and Congress hinted that they were engaged in serious seat-sharing talks for Haryana polls, in a continuation of the alliance as a part of I.N.D.I.A bloc for the Lok Sabha elections 2024. AAP fielded senior party leader Anurag Dhandha from Kalyat seat.
"We've released the first list and soon you will get the 2nd list. Now there is very little time left for the elections. We waited honestly (for the alliance) because the organization is strong in every assembly and that strong organization wanted us to contest the elections. We have shown our patience and after that, we released our list. We were a partner of the I.N.D..I.A bloc at the national level," said AAP Haryana chief Sushil Gupta. He asserted his party would contest in all 90 seats in the state.
"Very soon by evening, you will get to see the second list. Now only 3 days are left for nomination, so within 3 days all the candidates have to be lined up, for which scrutiny is going on. Aam Aadmi Party is a good and strong option in Haryana. I do not want to get into the politics of allegations and counter-allegations. We are fighting the battle to change the system of Haryana," the AAP leader said.
Interestingly, AAP fielded 11 candidates out of 20 where Congress already announced its nominees, that means Kejriwal's party pitted its candidates against Congress in 11 constituencies -
- Uchana Kalan
- Meham
- Badshahpur
- Narayangarh
- Samalkha
- Dabwali
- Rohtak
- Bahadurgarh
- Badli
- Beri
- Mahendragarh
Earlier in the day, stepping up pressure on the Congress for an alliance in the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls, the AAP's state unit chief Sushil Gupta said on Monday that his party will release the names of candidates from all the 90 seats if the deal is not finalised by the evening.
The last date for filing nominations for the Haryana election is September 12. Polling is scheduled to be held on October 5.
The talks between the Congress and AAP have been stuck over the number of seats to be contested by the latter, with the Kejriwal-led party demanding 10 seats and the Congress offering five, sources in the AAP said.
