AAP Names 20 Candidates for Haryana Polls Including Ex-BJP Minister

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced its second and third lists of candidates for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections. Former minister Chhatar Pal Singh, who recently left the BJP, will contest from Barwala. The party had released its first list of 20 candidates on Monday after prolonged seat-sharing discussions with the Congress yielded no results.

Key Candidates Announced

On Tuesday, AAP initially released a list of nine candidates, followed by another list of 11 names later that night. Notably, Haryana AAP president Sushil Gupta's name was absent from both lists. In its third list, AAP fielded Pravin Guskhani against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the Garhi Sampla Kiloi constituency.

The second list includes Rita Bamaniya for Sadhaura, Kishan Bajaj for Thanesar, and Hawa Singh for Indri. Mukhtiyar Singh Bazigar will contest from Ratia, Bhupendra Beniwal from Adampur, and Chhatar Pal Singh from Barwala. Jawahar Lal is set to run from Bawal, Pravesh Mehta from Faridabad, and Abash Chandela from Tigaon.

Additional Candidates

Other candidates in the third list are Bheem Singh Rathi from Radaur, Amar Singh from Nilokheri, Amit Kumar from Israna, Rajesh Saroha from Rai, Manjeet Farmana from Kharkhauda, Naresh Bagri from Kalanaur, Mahender Dahiya from Jhajjar, Suneel Rao from Ateli, Satish Yadav from Rewari, and Rajendra Rawat from Hathin.

The nomination deadline for the Haryana assembly elections is September 12. The state will go to polls on October 5. AAP decided to contest solo after failing to reach a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress.

Alliance Talks with Congress

Regarding an alliance with Congress, AAP Haryana chief Sushil Gupta stated on Monday, "I want to say it very clearly that we have been preparing for all the 90 seats since day one." He added that there was little time left before the nomination deadline. Another AAP leader, Sanjay Singh, mentioned that the party would contest the Haryana polls with full strength.

On Monday evening, Gupta had warned that AAP would release its candidate list for all 90 seats if no agreement was reached with Congress by then. Talks between the two parties stalled over seat allocation; sources indicated that AAP wanted 10 seats while Congress offered only five.

In previous elections, AAP and Congress had collaborated in Delhi but contested separately in Punjab. During the Lok Sabha general election, Congress allocated one seat to AAP in Haryana, which it contested unsuccessfully.

The announcement of these lists marks a significant step as AAP gears up for the Haryana assembly elections. The party aims to make a strong impact despite not forming an alliance with Congress.