Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) failed attract sympathy votes as the issue of the AAP supremo spending time in jail in the Delhi liquor policy case failed to cut ice with the voters in the Lok Sabha elections, especially in Delhi.
Out of total 22 seats AAP contested in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Goa and Chandigarh, it was leading in just three, all in Punjab. In Delhi, where AAP fought on 4-3 seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress and a tough fight was expected on a couple of seats, all seven segments were being led by the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). The saffron party seemed all set to keep their track record of 2014 and 2019 when it swept all seven segments in the national capital. The AAP had fielded candidates in New Delhi, East, West and South Delhi constituencies whereas on the remaining three – Chandni Chowk, Northwest and Northeast – Congress tried their luck as part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc. However, both parties failed to win any seat in the national capital.
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After the arrest of Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case, the AAP targeted the BJP for trying to finish the party and its leaders. In his absence, Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal interacted with the people on his behalf. The AAP’s entire campaign revolved around blaming the BJP for dictatorship and defended their alliance with the Congress to “save democracy”. Many anticipated that Kejriwal’s release from jail on May 10 to campaign for the polls brightened the party’s prospects. He held more than 40 road shows, more than half of them in Delhi and projected himself and his party as the victim of the dictatorial attitude of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, as the result would have it, his presence on ground and the victim card strategy failed to woo the voters.
Punjab is the only face-saver for the AAP where its candidates were leading in Anandpur Sahib, Hoshiarpur and Sangrur segments. The AAP and the Congress did not fight in alliance in Punjab, a step which the Congress now claims worked in their favour.
The AAP candidates who are on their way to win from Punjab are Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer from Sangrur. Hayer held important portfolios including Higher Education & Languages, Governance Reforms, Sports & Youth Services, Science Technology & Environment in Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in the state. Raj Kumar Chabbewal, a senior Dalit leader who switched sides from the Congress in March and Malvinder Singh Kang are the other two AAP candidates from Hoshiarpur and Anandpur sahib segments respectively, who were ahead till 4 pm.
All seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and 13 seats in Punjab went to polls on May 25th and June 1st respectively. Despite the scorching heat, a voter turnout of 58.69 percent was recorded in Delhi and 62.8 percent in Punjab.
