Seat score up, so is vote share: AAP

AAP leader Sandeep Pathak says the party had high expectations but got fewer seats in Punjab than expected. “We have to accept that the Lok Sabha election is fought on a different narrative. This election has proved that AAP is a well-established party in Punjab,” he adds.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which bagged three Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, on Wednesday lauded its performance, terming it a significant achievement. AAP’s national general secretary (organisation) and Rajya Sabha member Sandeep Pathak said the party fought the elections with full strength and three of its candidates made it from the state with a close contest on 2-3 other seats.

AAP’s national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak says the party fought the elections with full strength and three of its candidates made it from the state with a close contest on 2-3 other seats. (ANI)

In 2019, the party had polled about 7% votes in Punjab and won one seat, he said. “We were fourth or fifth on the remaining seats at that time. But this time we won three seats, while the contest was very close on two seats. Apart from this, we have performed very well on other seats as well. Our vote share is 26% in the state this time,” he said.

Pathak said the party had high expectations but got fewer seats in Punjab than expected. “We have to accept that the Lok Sabha election is fought on a different narrative. This election has proved that AAP is a well-established party in Punjab,” he said in a statement.

The AAP leader said its candidate Sushil Gupta lagged by a small margin in Kurukshetra (Haryana) while there was a very good contest in Bharuch (Gujarat). He said that despite the challenging circumstances, AAP’s concerted efforts and Arvind Kejriwal’s extensive campaigning post release on interim bail contributed to the INDIA bloc’s commendable showing against the BJP.