AAP Convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Congress President Rahul Gandhi met last month at the residence of Sharad Pawar in New Delhi. Both Pawar and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had interceded on behalf of Aam Aadmi Party and persuaded Rahul Gandhi to agree to an alliance in Delhi.

The meeting, confide Congress sources, ended on an amicable note and with the understanding that both Congress and AAP would contest three seats each in Delhi and an independent candidate, either Yashwant Sinha or Shatrughan Sinha, would be put up from the remaining constituency and would be supported by both the parties.

A few days later, allege Congress leaders, the AAP convenor conveyed that AAP would like to contest from four seats in Delhi and Congress could contest the remaining three. The Congress President apparently gave this proposal also the green signal.

But then Mr Kejriwal returned with the message that the alliance in Delhi could take place only if Congress got into an alliance in Haryana as well. In addition, AAP informed that it would have an alliance in Haryana with JJP (Jannayak Janata Party) and that the Congress would have to concede seats to both.

This was vehemently opposed by the Haryana unit of the Congress. It felt that AAP had no organisation in the state and realistically had no claim. What’s more, Assembly election in Haryana is due later this year and Congress would have to contest against both BJP and JJP in the state. Therefore, the state unit told the party leadership that it made no sense to concede seats to JJP.

While this was being conveyed to AAP, the latter raised the demand that it would like to contest from Chandigarh and Goa as well. By now the Congress leadership, these sources, say, was exasperated and communicated that while Congress was still willing to negotiate over seats in Haryana, Chandigarh and Goa would not be on the table.