Talking to The Indian Express, Chautala ruled out any differences with alliance partner BJP over distribution of seats in the state and reiterated that “the INLD will back any winnable NDA candidate from any constituency in the state”. He, however, refused to comment on the number of seats for which the INLD would finalise candidates. The number remains the bone of contention between the parties. While the BJP wants six seats, the INLD is keen on a 50:50 formula.

Meanwhile, the BJP is likely to announce the names of its candidates on March 9 after its Central Parliamentary Board meeting in New Delhi. President of the party’s state unit, Atam Prakash Manchanda, said though the BJP is contesting the elections in the state in alliance with the INLD, the two parties are yet to reach a decision about sharing of seats and the state BJP core committee, which met here yesterday, has recommended the names of its candidates for six Lok Sabha seats — Ambala, Faridabad, Sonepat, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Karnal.

The recommended names for the six seats are Rattan Lal Kataria for Ambala, Ram Chander Bainda for Faridabad, Kishan Singh Sangwan for Sonepat, former MP Sudha Yadav and Sudesh Yadav, wife of former Union minister Hukam Deo Narain Yadav from Gurgaon, Captain Abhimanyu and O.P. Dhakar for Rohtak and former Union minister I.D. Swami, Atam Parkash Manchanda and Niti Sen Bhatia for Karnal.