Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that his party would independently contest all 90 assembly seats in Haryana, marking the AAP’s debut in a full-spectrum electoral challenge in the state. In the 2019 Assembly elections, the party contested 46 seats, securing no victories and a vote share of 0.48%.
While addressing the “Badlav Jansabha” in Haryana’s Jind, Kejriwal said that although the AAP would go solo in the Haryana assembly elections, it would align with the INDIA bloc for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, scheduled for April-May.
At the event, attended by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Kejriwal asserted that people now place their trust primarily in the Aam Aadmi Party, citing positive changes in Delhi and Punjab. “Today people only have trust in one party, which is the Aam Aadmi Party. On one side, they see Punjab, and on the other, our government in Delhi. Today Haryana is seeking a big change. In Delhi and Punjab, people made this big change earlier and now people there are happy,” he said, as PTI reported.
Kejriwal highlighted the AAP’s growing influence in Haryana, claiming that it has become the largest political group in the state, surpassing traditional players such as the Congress, BJP, and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP).
“There is a committee of 15-20 people in every village and ward. There are nearly 1.25 lakh office-bearers of the party in Haryana. This has been achieved in the last six months,” he said.
Claiming that people were disillusioned with the prevailing political entities in Haryana, Kejriwal accused them of prioritising familial interests over public welfare for the past 75 years. “People have been disillusioned with every party in Haryana. Every political party that ruled Haryana in the last 75 years only thought about their own family. They accumulated enough money for their next seven generations. Today, people believe only in one political party. That is AAP,” he added.
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Kejriwal’s announcement comes less than a week after former Haryana Chief Minister and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda indicated his party’s reluctance to form an alliance with the AAP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state.
“The Congress is fully capable and self-sufficient to win in Haryana. So far, there are no talks with the AAP. However, for a party to stake claim or demand seats, it should have a base. The AAP and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP), which fought the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance, could barely get 50,000 votes in three seats. In the 2022 Adampur Assembly bypoll, the AAP got just 3,400 votes. When a party has no base, on what grounds can they demand seats?” Hooda said last week, according to The Indian Express.
The AAP is learnt to have sought 5 of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana as part of the INDIA alliance, including the three seats bordering Punjab. Hooda, however, questioned the grounds on which the AAP could demand seats, pointing to their modest performance in recent polls.
