lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Mar 13, 2019 16:53 IST

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday proposed for an alliance between his Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress in Haryana for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Kejriwal tweeted his offer claiming that such an alliance will defeat the BJP on all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.

“The people of the country want to defeat the pair of (BJP president) Amit Shah and (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi. If the AAP, the JJP and the Congress contest together, the BJP will lose all the 10 seats in Haryana. (Congress president) Rahul Gandhi should think about it,” wrote Kejriwal on Twitter.

Kejriwal’s offer for alliance came soon after Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke about “combined” opposition against the Modi government in the Lok Sabha election. Addressing a press conference in Chennai, Gandhi said the opposition is united against the BJP-led coalition to oust the Modi government from power.

Earlier on Tuesday, Gandhi had said no “sacrifice” is bigger to have an alliance if it is aimed at defeating the BJP-led coalition in the parliamentary election.

Kejriwal’s proposal for alliance with the Congress comes on the back of a failed attempt to strike a deal with the main opposition party in Delhi. Kejriwal repeatedly urged Gandhi to join hands against the BJP and contest the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi together.

Gandhi held a meeting with the Delhi unit of the Congress, which opposed the idea of joining hands with the AAP. The alliance talks could not take off in Delhi. Kejriwal did not hide his disappointment at not having an alliance in Delhi saying the Congress’s decision would “help” the BJP.

In his offer for alliance, Kejriwal mentioned about the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which is led by Dushyant Chautala, the Lok Sabha MP from Hisar in Haryana. He is the son of former MP Ajay Singh Chautala and grandson of former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. Dushyant Chautala claims to be the true inheritor of the family’s political legacy that began with former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal.

The BJP had won seven of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana in 2014 parliamentary polls. The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) - the JJP was formed after Dushyant Chautal parted ways with the party - won two while the Congress secured one seat in the state.