Those underestimating us...: AAP amid stalled alliance talks with Cong

Amid uncertainty over an alliance with the Congress for the assembly polls in Haryana, the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday said it was a "strong, third alternative" in the state and those who underestimate it will have to regret.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Saturday met with Congress leaders to take forward the Haryana alliance talks.

After the meeting, AICC general secretary in-charge for Haryana Deepak Babaria said, "Nothing has been finalised as of now, it will be done by tomorrow or the day after."

AAP national secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak said at a press conference earlier in the day that the party was ready to contest all 90 seats in the Haryana elections with full force.

"We are fully prepared and waiting for the party's order. As soon as we get the 'go', we will announce everything. We are prepared to fight the elections with full force on all seats and those who underestimate us will themselves regret it in the future," Pathak said.

Alliance talks between the AAP and the Congress have hit an impasse over seat sharing. The AAP has demanded 10 seats while the Congress is offering five to seven, insiders have said.

Meanwhile, AAP's Haryana unit vice president Anurag Dhandha asserted that his party has emerged as a "strong, third alternative" and no government after the assembly polls will be possible in the state without AAP.

"AAP's clear goal is to remove the BJP from Haryana politics. But if anyone considers us weak, then it will be their biggest political error," he told PTI on being asked about the status of the alliance talks.

Haryana goes to the polls on October 5. The last date to file nominations is September 12.

Earlier in the day, AAP chief national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said talks were underway and expressed hopes that there would be "some conclusion".

"Talks are ongoing, so it is too early to comment," she said when asked about the number of seats AAP would contest if it struck an alliance with the Congress.

The AAP is already in campaign mode in Haryana and has organised several rallies, including by party chief Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita.

"We are ready to contest all 90 seats," Kakkar said.

AAP sources on Friday claimed that the talks over an alliance were on the verge of a "collapse".

They had also claimed that the party was planning to contest 50 seats and might announce its first list of candidates on Sunday.

INDIA bloc constituents AAP and the Congress contested the Lok Sabha polls in alliance in Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi.

In Haryana, AAP contested the Kurukshetra seat, where its state unit chief Sushil Gupta lost to the BJP's Navin Jindal.