AAP-titude Test Score: Handsome Debut but for Party's Claims, ‘National Tag’ A Plus

A day after ecstatic celebrations post the win in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls, where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ended the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 15-year rule, the mood in the party office was muted as results of the Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat Assembly elections started to trickle in on Thursday. The office, however, was decked up to announce the arrival of the AAP as a national party.

The AAP had campaigned fiercely in Gujarat, with party chief Arvind Kejriwal visiting the state almost every week post April this year and had expressed hopes of a stellar performance or at the least, beat the Congress to the third position.

A little after 9.45 am, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted, “It is with the votes of the people of Gujarat that AAP will become a national party today. The politics of education and health is making its mark for the first time in national politics. Congratulations to the entire country.”

AAP MP Sanjay Singh, who had stayed put in Gujarat for the past one month, tweeted: “In Gujarat, we have got 27 lakh votes so far. Under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, AAP is the fastest growing party in ten years. With their blessings, the people of Gujarat have made AAP a national party. Congratulations to the people of the country and workers of AAP.”

VOTE SHARE

The AAP won approximately 13% of the vote share in Gujarat, the Congress came down from 42% in 2017 to 27%, while the BJP won nearly 53% of the vote share. The AAP has clearly dented the prospects of the Congress. If one adds the votes of the Congress and AAP in Gujarat, it comes to approximately 40%.

With approximately 13% of the vote share in Gujarat, the fourth state after Delhi, Punjab and Goa, the AAP is set to become a ‘national’ party. The AAP will be the ninth political party in India to be accorded the status of a national party. The AAP needed 6% votes and 2 seats in Gujarat to enable it to become a national party.

‘GUJ HAS OPENED A WINDOW, NEXT TIME THE DOOR WILL OPEN’

On the high claims of the party in the run-up to the polls in Gujarat, Sanjay Singh said, “Each party fights an election to win, not lose. I would rather express happiness that under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP has become a national party.”

AAP’s state chief Gopal Italia and Chief Ministerial candidate Isudan Gadhvi lost their seats. However, the AAP chose to celebrate its vote share and the two seats won by 2.30 pm.

AAP minister Gopal Rai said, “The people of Gujarat have opened a window, next time, the door will open.”

Sanjay Singh argued that Kejriwal and AAP had breached the impregnable fortress of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in Gujarat, and harked back to the uncertain political beginnings of the party 10 years ago. He recalled that the party had won 20 seats in its first attempt in Punjab and won a majority in its second attempt, won two seats in Goa in 2022 and became a national party in Gujarat.

IN HIMACHAL

AAP leaders were silent on the party’s dismal performance in Himachal Pradesh, where the party’s campaign had petered out with Kejriwal staking the party’s resources for optimal use in Modi and Shah’s home state of Gujarat.

However, it did not go unnoticed that in Himachal, despite the fact that it borders Punjab, where less than nine months ago the AAP had registered a magnificent performance winning 92 of the 117 seats, the AAP failed to open its account and got a little over 1% of the vote share.

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