In Haryana, while the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party ((BJP) and the main opposition Congress won five seats each in the Lok Sabha elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an ally of Congress under the India National Democratic Inclusive Alliance (INDI) alliance, could not win the Kurukshetra seat and unlike Punjab and Delhi, failed to mark its debut victory in Lok Sabha polls in Haryana.
Whatever the reasons, AAP is still unable to digest the defeat because many assembly seats falling under Kurukshetra Lok Sabha are occupied by Congress MLAs and despite Congress having MLAs on these seats, AAP did not get the expected votes or support. Since the margin of victory is not much, Indian as it faced defeat by just 29021 votes and National Lok Dal (INLD) which contested the Lok Sabha elections in a bid to save its existence, status and symbol, left no stone unturned in laying thorns in the path of AAP. The result of this has surfaced in the form of the defeat of AAP candidate Dr. Sushil Gupta. Something similar happened in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections where Deepender Singh Hooda, who presently won the election from Rohtak with the record margin, had to face defeat by only 7503 votes, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) candidates Kariskan Kumar Panchak and Pradeep Deshwal respectively who contested the Lok Sabha election unsuccessfully in the year 2019 securing just 38321 and 21211 votes. It was believed then votes secured by JJP candidate resulted in Deepender’s defeat.
Political experts believe that although the expectation and high hopes from Congress in the elections by AAP could not be fulfilled, but INLD is being said to have played a big role behind AAP’s defeat. Presently, INLD secured 78708 votes while AAP had to face defeat by just 29021 votes. In such a situation, it is believed that most of the votes INLD has got, could have gone to Congress and AAP, but due to Abhay Chautala himself contesting from Kurukshetra Lok Sabha, his traditional vote bank did not get scattered, as a result the AAP candidate had to face defeat. In such a situation, AAP’s hopes of winning in Haryana were not fulfilled. Political analysts opine that in case Abhay Chautala had not contested the polls from Kurukshetra, the AAP candidated would have got most the votes, espcicially of Kisan and Jat community.
It is a matter of concern for AAP that in Kurukshetra Lok Sabha, in the assembly constituencies where Congress MLAs or senior leaders dominate even there the AAP candidate had to face defeat. Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat was an election of prestige for AAP and entry into the state politics. Now the defeat is being reviewed. In the internal discussions on the public results, the leaders and workers of Aam Aadmi Party are believed to distrugled with their alliance partner Congress. Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala himself hails from Kaithal but here also AAP had to face defeat. Apart from this, Bishan Lal Saini is the MLA from Radaur but here also the AAP candidate lost. More or less something similar was seen in Radaur Ladwa constituency where despite having a Congress MLA, AAP lost. In Pundri, there is Satbir Bhana, a close and confidant of Surjewala but the party lost here too. On the contrary, Aam Aadmi Party won the four seats where there was no big Congress leader.
According to the data of the Election Commission of India, in the latest 18th Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s vote percentage in Haryana was the highest at 46.11 percent followed by the main opposition party Congress’s with 43.67 percent. Apart from this, INLD, which is fighting for its existence had 1.74 pecent and its arch rival JJP had 0.87 percent vote share.
AAP which has been given the status of a national party since last year 2023, had a vote percentage of 3.94% in the state, although it contested only on one Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat. Of course, the regional parties could not perform as expected but they have definitely given a shock to the main parties. Amidst all this, questions are being raised on the recognition received by INLD and JJP as regional parties and it is being said that due to poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections, the status Aof regional party in Haryana can be taken away by the Election Commission.
After the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, the Aam Aadmi Party is continuously mulling over major reasons behind the defeat. Of course, not getting expected votes in the assembly constituencies of Congress MLAs as well as INLD securing around eighty thousand votes votes were the main reasons for the defeat, but apart from this, other reasons behind defeat are being explored. Because assembly elections are to be held in the month of October and now very little time is left for them, so in such a situation, the Aam Aadmi Party is trying to make a strategy for the assembly elections and how to implement it. Of course, the Aam Aadmi Party has been successful in forming the government in Delhi and Punjab, but till now the party has not even opened its account in the assembly elections in Haryana. This time the party definitely came close to victory in Kurukshetra but could not win and the party has had a similar history in the assembly elections in Haryana. The AAP party is eyeing victory in the assembly elections in Haryana.