AAP, Congress alliance talks called off after disagreement on Delhi, Haryana seats

New Delhi, Apr 17: The alliance between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress in Delhi has been called off following disagreement over tie-up in Haryana and Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections.

"In order to stop BJP we were ready for an alliance with Congress, but Congress is not in a mood for any coalition. It is a matter of sadness, that even after so many efforts, Congress is not ready for any kind of compromise," AAP leader Sanjay Singh said.

We were ready to give up on Chandigarh but Congress still did not agree and we cannot form an alliance just in Delhi," he added.

The statement came a couple of days after Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal of doing an "U-turn" on the alliance talks between the two parties and said the doors of the Congress are open, but time is running out.

However, reports claimed that the talks are very much on and a decision on an alliance might be taken in the next couple of days.

Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, said he held talks with senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and PC Chacko, and proposed an alliance of 6:3:1 in Haryana on Tuesday.

But, Azad claimed that there were not talks on Haryana and that "we keep meeting parliamentarians every now and then".

In Haryana, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has proposed to fight from one seat, while offering the Congress and the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) six and three seats, respectively.

"Congress leaders Azad and (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda have refused to form an alliance in Haryana. We were ready to give three seats to the Congress in Delhi if they had agreed to form an alliance in Haryana too," Singh said.

However, Azad, who is also the Congress's Haryana in-charge, claimed there were no talks with the AAP on Haryana and downplayed his meeting with Singh.

"There is no talk of an alliance with the AAP in Haryana," he told reporters when asked about the issue.

On an alliance in Delhi, the Congress leader said city party in-charge Chacko should be asked it. Delhi and Haryana are separate entities, he said.

When asked about his meeting with Singh, Azad said, "We keep meeting parliamentarians every now and then."

Haryana Congress leader Hooda said there is no question of any alliance with the AAP in the state. But, if the party takes a decision in national interest the state unit will stand by it, he said.

On Tuesday, the AAP had said it was ready to have further discussions with the Congress and that it had appointed a representative to take the matter forward.

The AAP has appointed Singh to hold alliance talks with the Congress and others.

The party has proposed a 10:5:3 ratio in Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh in which 10 seats are for the Congress, five seats for the AAP and three seats for the JJP, Singh said.

There has been an uncertainty over formation of an alliance between the AAP and the Congress for a few months now.