Following the separation of Congress in Haryana and Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has sprung into action. The party leadership has convened a meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) in Delhi to deliberate on potential Lok Sabha candidates from both states.
Scheduled for February 13 at the party headquarters in Delhi, the meeting will see the presence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, National General Secretary Sandeep Pathak, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadda, and state presidents from both regions.
In Haryana, Congress aims to contest the Lok Sabha elections independently, prompting the party to intensify its preparations amid public discontent. With 314 Congress leaders and workers applying for 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state, meetings will be conducted in Chandigarh over two consecutive days starting from February 12 to review these applications and devise a strategy for the upcoming elections.
Haryana Congress in-charge Deepak Babaria and former Chief Minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda will attend these meetings. He will discuss the preparation of strong panels, Lok Sabha wise, along with screening of contenders.
With no decision on seat sharing, the top leadership of AAP has sought inputs from Haryana and Punjab regarding the Lok Sabha elections. It has been told by the leaders of both the states that the code of conduct regarding the Lok Sabha elections is going to be imposed in the first week of March, in such a situation, if the preparations are not started from now, then the party will lag behind other parties.
Since there are assembly elections in Haryana after the Lok Sabha, it is important to perform well in the Lok Sabha elections. Some senior party leaders say that the party is brainstorming on names for all the 10 seats in Haryana. This issue will be discussed in the meeting to be held in Delhi.
Due to no talks on seat sharing with Congress under the I.N.D.I.A alliance in Haryana, AAP has opened a direct front against Congress. Senior Vice President of AAP in Haryana, Anurag Dhanda has said that it is not in the power of Congress to defeat BJP. Congress has seen the fate of former CM Bhupendra Singh Hooda and MP Deependra Singh Hooda in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019.
AAP has given a formula of 7-3 to Congress in Haryana. The central leadership of the party wants to contest elections from Kurukshetra, Ambala and Sirsa seats. The party also wants to contest elections on these seats because these seats are adjacent to Punjab. Party leaders believe that there is an AAP government in Punjab, which can have an impact on the elections.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s in-laws house is in Pehowa, Kurukshetra. Kaithal district of Kurukshetra Lok Sabha is also associated with Punjab. Ambala and Sirsa are also adjacent to Punjab. Many people of Ambala have relatives in Punjab. AAP also has good influence in Fatehabad of Sirsa.
