Tough going for AAP in Arvind Kejriwal’s home state Haryana

From a lack of strong local leadership that could resonate with the state’s diverse electorate and help the party navigate the state’s complex caste dynamics to absence of a robust organisational structure, the stumbling blocks halting AAP’s march into Haryana are plenty.

Despite resounding electoral successes in Delhi and border state Punjab, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been struggling to breach the Haryana borders.

Unlike Punjab, where AAP projected a local leadership that resonated with the public, Haryana lacks a charismatic leader with strong regional ties, despite AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal hailing from the state. (HT)

From a lack of strong local leadership that could resonate with the state’s diverse electorate and help the party navigate the state’s complex caste dynamics to absence of a robust organisational structure, the stumbling blocks halting AAP’s march into Haryana are plenty.

Unlike Punjab, where AAP projected a local leadership that resonated with the public, Haryana lacks a charismatic leader with strong regional ties, despite AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal hailing from the state.

The party still plans to contest on all 90 seats this time, hoping to buck the trend even as the contest is shaping up to be bipolar with regional outfits nowhere in sight.

In Haryana, AAP is still largely perceived to be an urban-centric party centered around Kejriwal, which hasn’t helped as people of Haryana prefer strong regional leaders over remote-controlled ones.

Nonetheless, the party is elated with its state president Sushil Gupta’s recent performance in Kurukshetra, the only seat from where the party contested as part of its INDIA alliance agreement, during the Lok Sabha polls.

Not to forget, AAP made its debut in the Haryana municipalities by winning the post of Ismailabad municipal committee of Kurukshetra district with Nisha Kano Vangha, the AAP’s nominee, defeating Pooja Garg of the BJP-JJP combine by a narrow margin of 101 votes.

Kejriwal’s wife, Punjab CM Mann its high-profile campaigners

To maintain momentum, high-profile leaders, including Kejriwal’s wife Sunita, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, general secretary Sandeep Pathak and cabinet ministers from Delhi and Punjab, have addressed 45 rallies in 15 days.

On July 20, Sunita made an emotional ‘Haryana ka Lal’ pitch while unveiling ‘Kejriwal ki 5 Guarantee’ for Haryana, followed by the massive rallies.

Other than relying heavily on Kejriwal’s Haryana connect, the party has made promises on health, education, electricity, for women and youth.

Unlike Lok Sabha polls, AAP is going solo and is aiming to emerge as a third party, in the seeming absence of regional forces like the Indian National Lok Dal or Jannayak Janta Party, both forging a pre-poll alliance to garner Dalit votes.

In a conversation with HT, Gupta said, “We will be contesting on all 90 seats and candidates will be announced soon. AAP is a national party and is able enough to take on the BJP and Congress. In Haryana, the regional parties are almost finished.”

Party’s state treasurer Sunil Bindal is confident that after giving decades to the governments of INLD, Congress and BJP, the voters will want to see “a change and AAP is the only viable option as they have seen the party’s governance in Punjab and Delhi.”

Experts believe that with its governments in both the bordering states, the party will be using all its force on the adjoining districts of Haryana like Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Fatehabad, Sirsa and those in the NCR.

Poor show in the past

In the 2019 assembly polls, AAP performed poorly when it contested on 46 of 90 seats and lost security deposits on almost all seats with overall vote share standing at 0.48%, below the None of the Above (NOTA) option’s 0.53%.

Similarly, with Kejriwal being in jail, the morale of cadre is down despite her wife Sunita Kejriwal and other central leaders taking the center stage.

Satish Tyagi, a political commentator from Rohtak, believes that in the absence of Kejriwal, there is no such dynamic figure in the party who could lead the workers and despite giving a tough fight in Kurukshetra, Gupta has failed to become one.

On being asked about any impact of Kejriwal being in jail on the elections, Tyagi said, “This could be a mere perception but now most of the voters think that Kejriwal is like any other politician, unlike what we observed a few years ago. Moreover, the contest this time is bipolar between the BJP and the Congress, but the AAP could emerge as a third party.”