Just two years ago, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had achieved a sweeping victory in west Delhi’s Rajouri Garden. On Thursday, however, the results told a different story. They not only ended a distant third, but their candidate also lost his security deposit.
AAP candidate Harjeet Singh garnered only 10,243 votes, losing by 30,359 votes to BJP’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa. Mr. Harjeet Singh was also way behind the Congress candidate, Meenakshi Chandela, who lost to the BJP by over 14,000 votes.
‘Couldn’t convince voters’
Deputy Chief Minister and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said the people of Rajouri Garden were angry with their former MLA Jarnail Singh for leaving the seat midway to contest the elections in Punjab.
“The results in these bypolls are not in our favour. While interacting with voters we realised that they were angry about their MLA leaving the seat to contest from Punjab. We tried to convince them and assure them that the work initiated by Mr. Jarnail Singh will continue, but that did not work well with the voters. However, we will continue to engage with the residents of Rajouri Garden and work for them,” Mr. Sisodia said.
He also said the party wasn’t worried that these results would mar their chances in the upcoming municipal polls on April 23. “The issues of the municipal elections are different. We are confident of a win in the civic elections,” he said.
Vidhan Sabha polls
Giving an example, the party said that in 2015 Delhi Cantonment Board elections held in January, the AAP managed to win only 24% of the vote share, while BJP received 36%.
However, in the Vidhan Sabha elections conducted less than a fortnight later, AAP swept 52% votes.
Rajouri Garden, which is a mix of upscale neighbourhoods and slums, has 50% Punjabi and Sikh population, and another 15% comprise Gujjars.
The vote share of the AAP this time, went down from 47% in the 2015 assembly elections to 13.1%. The BJP captured 52% of the vote share from the 38% in 2015 and Congress too, showed an improvement by getting 33% of the votes, from a mere 12%.
In 2015, Mr. Jarnail Singh had managed to garner 54,916 votes to claim victory. Political analysts said Thursday’s results may not be all bad news for the AAP, but a result of the BJP wave in the country.
Sanjay Kumar, a political analyst and professor at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, said things are not as bad for the AAP as is being portrayed. The results of the bypolls were a pro-BJP voice and not an anti-AAP one, he said.
‘Not a reflection on AAP’
“There maybe some people who are not happy with AAP’s governance, but that is not the common notion among Delhi’s voters. The results do not reflect the work done by AAP,” Mr. Kumar said.
He said the current trend in the country is that people think some kind of magic will happen and their lives will suddenly improve if the BJP is voted to power. What is working for BJP is aspirational votes, he said.
Murali Raj, political science professor at Jamia Millia Islamia, said the political aspirations of the AAP’s legislator could also have swayed the voters.
“The abandonment gives away a wrong message to voters. Especially because Mr. Jarnail Singh did not leave his seat for a higher post but for a similar position in another State,” Mr. Raj said.
