AAP, Taksalis fail to seal pact

Chandigarh/Ludhiana, Mar 18

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the SAD (Taksali) today failed to arrive at a consensus over the Anandpur Sahib seat, following which both parties decided to contest polls on their own.

Leader of Opposition and AAP MLA Harpal Singh Cheema said the talks of alliance with the Taksalis could not materialise. He said consensus could not be reached on contesting the Anandpur Sahib seat.

“We had made it clear during the initial talks with both the SAD (Taksali) and the BSP that AAP has already named its candidate from Anandpur Sahib (Narinder Singh Shergill) and will not withdraw him.” Cheema said they had offered Bathinda and Patiala seats to the Taksalis as their contender for Anandpur Sahib Bir Devinder Singh was capable to give a tough fight to the Badal or Capt Amarinder Singh’s family at both seats.”

Meanwhile, SAD (Taksali) secretary-general Sewa Singh Sekhwan said, “We wanted to form an alliance, but couldn’t reach an agreement with AAP. We will contest the elections on our own.”

 Sources said while the SAD (Taksali) announced to field Bir Devinder Singh from Anandpur Sahib last month, AAP had named Narinder Singh Shergill as party candidate from the constituency way back in October last year.

Sekhwan said, “We had earlier tried to form a third front in the state and held several meetings with constituents of the Punjab Democratic Alliance, but couldn’t get through. We will soon take a call on the number of seats to contest.”

Earlier, a meeting was to be held between leaders of the SAD (Taksali) and AAP in Ludhiana on Sunday, but it was cancelled.