AAP comes a cropper in state
The fledgling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) eventually flattered to deceive in Haryana. After its superb show in the Delhi assembly polls, the AAP was expected to take big political leaps in Haryana. Its top two leaders, Arvind Kejriwal and Yogendra Yadav, in fact have roots in the state and were expected to give an impetus to the AAP prospects.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which started its public contact programme rather vigorously seems to have lost way somewhere partly due to the lack of a proper organisational network as well as political experience.
AAP’s best bet Yogendra Ya d av finished fourth in Gurgaon, securing about 79,000 votes. A grim indicator of their performance is that all the 10
THE FLEDGLING OUTFIT LACKED A PROPER ORGANISATIONAL NETWORK AS WELL AS POLITICAL EXPERIENCE; MOST CANDIDATES WERE GREENHORNS
candidates fielded in Haryana were fighting for the fourth and fifth spots.
Arvind Kejriwal who hails from Siwani Mandi near Hisar district had raised hopes after his first rally in Rohtak on February 23, in which he challenged the established political parties in the state.
The choice of candidates picked by the AAP for an election of this magnitude also left a lot to be desired.
Most of them were not only political greenhorns, but also lacked the spark and zip to succeed at this level.
In the same public meeting, Kejriwal announced Naveen Jaihind as the candidate from Rohtak Lok Sabha seat and a short while later, names of Jai Singh Thekadar was declared from Sonepat and Poonam Chand Ratti from Sirsa seat.
Political experts attributed AAP’s debacle to its decision of quitting the Delhi government in just 49 days.
On the reasons behind AAPs poor show, DR Chaudhry, a former Delhi University professor and an Aam Aadmi Party leader, said, “Call it a tidal wave or tsunami of NaMo throughout the country. Look at others like Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati who could not get a single seat in Uttar Pradesh and Samajwadi Party that got just five. The Left got just two seats in West Bengal.”