Haryana poll: AAP releases 2nd list as talks with Cong collapses

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday released its second list of nine candidates for the Haryana assembly polls, fielding former minister Chhatar Pal Singh from Barwala a day after he switched over from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The party's first list of 20 candidates was released on Monday after seat-sharing talks with the Congress dragged on for days without much headway.

According to the fresh list, Rita Bamaniya will contest from Sadhaura, Kishan Bajaj from Thanesar, Hawa Singh from Indri.

The party has fielded Mukhtiyar Singh Bazigar from Ratia, Bhupendra Beniwal from Adampur, and Chhatar Pal Singh from Barwala.

Jawahar Lal will contest from Bawal, Pravesh Mehta from Faridabad and Abash Chandela from Tigaon, according to the list.

The party said in a statement that former minister Chhatar Pal Singh, who has been fielded from Barwala, quit the BJP on Monday to join the AAP.

The AAP released its first list of 20 candidates on Monday, deciding to go solo in the polls after it could not arrive at a mutually acceptable seat-sharing formula with the Congress.

The nomination window for the polls closes on September 12. The 90-member Haryana Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5.

On the issue of an alliance with the Congress, AAP's Haryana president Sushil Gupta on Monday said, "I want to say it very clearly that we have been preparing for all the 90 seats since day one. There is not much time left for the polls, the last date for filing nominations is September 12. So the wait is over."

Another AAP leader, Sanjay Singh, had said the party will fight the Haryana polls with full strength.

Earlier on Monday, Gupta had said the AAP would release the names of its candidates from all 90 seats if the Congress failed to seal the deal by the evening. The talks between the two parties were stuck up over the number of seats to be contested by the AAP.

According to sources, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party was demanding 10 seats, while the Congress had offered it only five.

The Congress and the AAP had fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi while they had contested the election separately in Punjab. In the LS general election, the Congress had given one seat to the AAP in Haryana, which it had contested unsuccessfully.