The Congress on Tuesday said that it is negotiating an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party for the Haryana Assembly elections, but no agreement has been reached yet, PTI reported.

“We have to defeat the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] and not allow votes to be divided,” PTI quoted Congress’ state in-charge Deepak Babaria as saying.

Haryana will head for polling on October 5. The counting of votes will take place on October 8, alongside that of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Congress’ Central Election Committee on Monday discussed the possibility of allying with the Aam Aadmi Party, according to reports.

On Tuesday, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh welcomed reports that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had expressed interest in forming an alliance.

Singh told reporters that defeating the BJP was the priority for all Opposition parties and that the decision to ally with the Congress needs to be approved by Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, who is in jail in connection with Delhi liquor policy case.

While the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are constituents of the Opposition INDIA bloc that was formed last year to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha elections, they are opponents, mainly in Punjab and Delhi.

The INDIA bloc did not win any of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi in the recent general election. In Punjab, the Opposition alliance won 10 of the 13 seats despite the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress contesting separately.

Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia meet Rahul Gandhi

Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia met Gandhi on Wednesday amid speculation that the Congress might field them as candidates in the Haryana polls.

In the recent Paris Olympics, Phogat was disqualified from the women’s 50-kg event as she weighed 100 grams over the limit on the second day of the competition, hours before her gold medal match.

When Phogat returned from Paris, she was received by Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda at Delhi airport.

Phogat, along with other wrestlers including Punia and Sakshi Malik, were at the forefront of the protests against former Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh since January 2023 after he was accused of sexually abusing athletes.

In the 2019 Haryana polls, the BJP won 40 seats in the 90-member Assembly. Having fallen short of the majority mark, it had formed the government with the support of the Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party. The Congress had won 31 seats.

Manohar Lal Khattar, who had been the state’s chief minister since October 2014, had retained his position and Chautala was made his deputy.

In March, weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP replaced Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as the chief minister. The ties between the Hindutva party and the Jannayak Janta Party also snapped, leading to Chautala’s resignation.