Haryana elections: Panchkula AAP chief Ranjit Uppal quits party to join BJP

Amid uncertainty over an alliance with the Congress in Haryana, the Aam Aadmi Party’s Panchkula district president, Ranjit Uppal, quit the party and joined the BJP on Monday.
Uppal was inducted into the BJP by chief minister Nayab Singh Saini. Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma was also present.
In his resignation letter, Uppal, who had been seeking the AAP ticket from Kalka assembly segment, said: “I don’t agree with some party policies and decisions so am unable to continue with my services.”
According to party sources, Uppal was upset over seat-sharing talks between the AAP and the Congress.
His resignation comes on a day when the AAP’s Haryana chief, Sushil Gupta, said the party will declare candidates for all 90 seats in Haryana by Monday evening if the Congress fails to finalise an alliance with it for the October 5 assembly elections.
The talks between the two sides have been stuck over the number of seats to be contested by the AAP, with the party demanding 10 seats and the Congress offering five, party sources said. Gupta said the AAP was waiting for the Congress’ response, but nothing has come so far.
In his speeches earlier, Uppal had been highlighting the failures of the state BJP government and sitting Congress MLA, Pradeep Chaudhary to carry out development in Kalka constituency.
The Congress fielded Pradeep Chaudhary as its candidate from Kalka last week.
(With PTI inputs)