Haryana Congress In-Charge Deepak Babaria

New Delhi: The Congress is offering “good small numbers” of seats in Haryana to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in an effort to forge a pre-poll alliance ahead of the October 5 Assembly elections, state Congress in-charge Deepak Babaria said after a meeting with AAP leader Raghav Chadha on Saturday.

Deepak Babaria told IANS that negotiations are underway and it is likely that the INDIA bloc partners will reach a deal by Sunday.

“Negotiations are going on, we will see where adjustments can be made,” he said.

Asked the number of seats the AAP will get, the Congress leader didn’t divulge any exact figure but said, “Good small numbers”.

On Friday, AAP leader Chadha said that the two parties are engaged in last-minute negotiations ”for the interest of the people of the Haryana”, adding that nothing ”conclusive”, however, has been reached yet on pre-poll coalition.

The AAP Rajya Sabha member told IANS that the talks are moving in a ”positive direction” and both parties are hopeful of a coalition ahead of the Assembly elections.

“Talks are going on. For the interest of Haryana, its people as well as the country, we are exploring this coalition. We are hopeful and making all efforts to reach a common ground,” Chadha said.

The talks of a pre-poll coalition between the two parties gathered steam after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed the desire at the recent Haryana screening committee meeting to align with like-minded parties to dislodge the BJP from power.

The Congress MP also asked Haryana state leaders and in-charges to explore an alliance with AAP to rule out the division of votes and also to present the INDIA bloc as a united and potent force in the poll-bound state.

Rahul Gandhi’s statement was welcomed by the AAP.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, out of the 10 seats in Haryana, the BJP saw its tally reduced to five a clean sweep in 2019, while the INDIA bloc clinched the remaining five seats.

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