'United' INDIA Bloc To Contest Assembly Polls In Maharashtra & Jharkhand, But 'No Scope' In Haryana

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said there is no one formula in state polls and elections will be fought together where party leaders and INDIA partners agree.

Congress will not contest Haryana elections with Aam Aadmi Party, said Jairam Ramesh. (Image Source: PTI)

The INDIA bloc will contest together in the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, due later this year but there is "no scope" of alliance between Congress and Aam Aadmi Party in Haryana, said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday. 

"No scope for alliance between Congress, AAP for assembly polls in Haryana, Delhi," Ramesh told news agency PTI. However, INDIA bloc will "fight elections together" in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, he added. 

"No one formula for alliance in state polls; elections will be fought together where Congress leaders, INDIA partners agree," said the Congress leader. 

"There is no INDIA 'janbandhan' in Punjab. In Haryana, we had given one seat to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Lok Sabha polls but I don't think that INDIA janbandhan will be there for assembly polls. In Delhi, the AAP itself has said that INDIA janbandhan will not be there for assembly polls," Ramesh said.

The Congress and AAP had contested the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi together but separately in Punjab. 

"In the context of West Bengal also, I had said that the INDIA bloc is for Lok Sabha polls but in states where the circumstances are such that our leaders of the state and leaders of our alliance partners want, the alliance will remain," he said. 

"In Maharashtra, the alliance will be there with Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SCP). In Jharkhand, we have an alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morch," the Congress leader added. 

He said that where state Congress leaders and the respective alliance partners agree, there will be an alliance and that there is no one formula on which the alliance will be done for assembly polls. 

On being specifically asked whether there would be an alliance in Haryana and Delhi, Ramesh said, "There is no scope (for alliance) in Delhi and Haryana." Jharkhand, Haryana, and Maharashtra are slated to go for polls later this year, while assembly elections in Delhi will be held early next year.