AAP leader and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann said on Wednesday that his party would not hold alliance talks with the Congress in his state, on a day Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee indicated that her Trinamul Congress would not go for a pre-poll tie-up with the Congress.

Replying to queries from reporters on the prospects of the INDIA bloc, Mann said: “Punjab will become the hero of the country; in the Lok Sabha polls in 2024 it will be 13-0 in favour of AAP.... Maybe some talks are going on with them (the Congress), but we are not going to do that in Punjab.”

Mann has been stressing on going it alone for Punjab’s 13 Lok Sabha seats, asserting on Wednesday that 40 potential candidates have been shortlisted.

AAP sources in Delhi, however, hinted that nothing is final —indicating that they would drive a hard bargain with the Congress for Lok Sabha seats, using even their minor successes in Goa and Gujarat as leverage.

The goal, a senior party source told The Telegraph, is for AAP to gain a foothold in Haryana — strategically placed between a state and a Union Territory ruled by the party. AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal hails from Haryana.

On a visit to both AAP-held Assembly seats in Goa last week, Kejriwal reminded the Congress that he won’t be taken for granted. In a speech at Benaulim on Friday, he accused both the BJP and the Congress of “not working” when they ruled Delhi.

Kejriwal added: “In 2027, if you give us the responsibility, we will form a full government in Goa. For the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, an INDIA coalition has been formed at the national level in which we are in alliance with the Congress and many other parties. Goa is also on the table. We are discussing Goa also. Whatever the decision, you should elect the INDIA bloc accordingly.”