Haryana Verdict Reveals AAP Ability To Dent Congress

AAP Stings Congress In Haryana Assembly Polls

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, October 9: The Congress has to regret the decision not to forge an alliance in Haryana with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The AAP once more showed that the party can damage prospects of the Congress.

The AAP had sought nine Assembly seats from the Congress. The AAP was offered four Assembly seats. The two parties after initial rounds of talks decided to contest the Haryana Assembly polls separately.

The Congress polled 0.90 per cent less votes than the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The AAP polled 1.79 per cent votes in Haryana.

The AAP had fielded candidates in 89 Assembly constituencies. Haryana has a total of 90 Assembly seats.

Also Read: Magical BJP Win In Haryana Floors Modi-Baiters 

In the end, Haryana verdict reaffirmed the ability of Aam Aadmi Party to defeat the Congress. This is seen in states where the Congress is in direct contest with the BJP.

The Aam Aadmi Party polled 1.79 per cent votes without opening its account. All its candidates lost the elections in Haryana.

The difference in vote percentage between Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress was just 0.90%. That means the difference is only half of the votes Aam Aadmi Party got in Haryana.

Due to this difference between Congress and BJP, Bharatiya Janata Party got 11 seats more than Congress in the Assembly. The Bharatiya Janata Party got 48 seats. The Congress won 37 Assembly seats.

The Aam Aadmi Party had demanded from Congress that they should be given a respectable number of seats in Haryana. The AAP was determined to contest the Haryana elections.

Also Read: Congress Questions 99% EVM Battery Strength In Haryana 

Several rounds of meetings were held between the Congress and the BJP. The Rahul Gandhi Team was said to be backing the idea of forging an alliance with the AAP.

But the former Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who has a lot of dominance over Haryana Congress, had the last word. He argued that the Congress does not need to compromise with Aam Aadmi Party because the party was going to win the Haryana elections comfortably.

Hooda was adamant that no compromise should be made with Aam Aadmi Party. Now that the results are out, it seems that the decision taken by him Hooda was a political mistake.

Hooda underestimated the strength of the Aam Aadmi Party. The biggest strength of the Aam Aadmi Party is that people jokingly call it the B team of the BJP.

Also Read: AAP Reads Haryana Poll Outcome Script

Wherever the BJP has difficulty in winning elections, the Aam Aadmi Party comes there and makes the job easy for the BJP. The Gujarat Assembly elections saw the impact of the AAP in helping the BJP scale up victory against the Congress.

The Aam Aadmi Party contests elections on many seats and makes inroads on the vote base of the Congress and the result comes in favour of the BJP. The BJP got two-third majority in Gujarat because the Aam Aadmi Party contested on a lot of seats.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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