CHANDIGARH: Two khap leaders of Haryana have applied for Aam Aadmi Party ticket to contest Lok Sabha polls from Sonipat and Rohtak constituencies of Haryana. Dhankhar khap president Om Prakash Dhankhar has applied for AAP ticket from Rohtak from where chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s son and sitting MP Deepender Singh Hooda is the lone contender for Congress ticket. A leader of Naugama khap, Sunil Jaglan, is eying Sonipat ticket from the Kejriwal-led party.

Talking to TOI, Dhankhar said that AAP’s anti-corruption philosophy attracted him. He appeared before an interview panel of AAP leaders to present his point of view at Sonipat on February 10, he said. “I am not happy with the way they conducted the interview,” said Dhankhar, a retired sub-divisional officer (SDO) of agriculture department. “They asked me to appear before the panel alone. But I told them that we (khap leaders) discuss matters openly and not behind closed doors,” he added.

According to Dhankhar, 65, he left the room without discussing with AAP leaders because “khap leaders accompanying me may think that I have made a deal with them, if I had talked with them alone.”

“But my claim for AAP ticket still stands as I have not withdrawn my application for the same,” said the khap leader. However, he said that he had lost the charm of Kejriwal’s party as according to him, “AAP leaders share stage with activists, who have been comparing the khaps with Talibani courts.”

Dhankhar had contested the 2009 assembly polls as independent candidate from Badli constituency of Jhajjar district and secured 2,000 votes. “I did not contest the 2009 assembly poll to win, but to raise demands like ban on same gotra-same village marriages,” claimed Dhankhar. Sunil Jaglan, 31, who is the modern face of khaps in Haryana, is trying hard for Sonipat Lok Sabha seat saying that he is a fan of AAP’s ideology. Jaglan was elected sarpanch of Bibipur village of Jind district in 2010 and since then, he is active in the Naugama khap.