What AAP’s Delhi defeat means for Haryana?

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been trying  to find  its feet in Haryana, the home state of its supremo Arvind Kejriwal, since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. However, it has failed  to make a mark in the caste-ridden state politics.

Its recent drubbing in the Delhi Assembly elections is set to make it tough for AAP even as it tries to put its best foot forward in the upcoming March 2 municipal elections in Haryana. With an uncertain future, the party cadre could shift back to either the Congress or the BJP as the party would find it difficult to keep its flock together.

Kejriwal, who traces his roots to Siwani Mandi in Haryana, tried his level best to make his presence felt in his home state. However, his efforts came to naught in Haryana, even though AAP once ruled Delhi for over a decade and his party runs a government in the neighbouring Punjab.

The defeat in Delhi is naturally a setback for the party, which revamped its organisation ahead of the last year’s parliamentary and assembly elections. With the electoral success eluding the party in Haryana, the AAP’s support base would take a hit ahead of the MC elections.

In fact, the recent Assembly elections have shown that there was hardly any scope for the non-BJP and non-Congress parties in the Haryana politics. Perhaps, the Haryanavi voters, rooted in caste and regional politics, were not ready to experiment with non-traditional political parties such as the AAP which promised radical reforms in governance.

In fact, the weakening of  AAP, INLD and the JJP leaves the field wide open for the traditional rivals — Congress and the BJP — especially in the upcoming MC polls.

Despite the setback, AAP state chief Sushil Gupta is trying his best to revive the party and is campaigning aggressively for the coming MC elections. However, only the MC results will show whether the party’s alternative model of governance finds favour with the voter.