Lessons learnt, AAP to focus on Maharashtra polls

May 20, 2014 04:51 am | Updated October 18, 2016 02:06 pm IST - MUMBAI

The spartan head office of the Aam Aadmi Party on the western suburbs of Andheri had a steady influx of visitors till the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha election. Now it wears a deserted look.

The AAP fielded candidates from all 48 constituencies in Maharashtra, but all except one lost their deposits. The party is now looking to put the failure behind and focus on the upcoming Assembly election.

AAP spokesperson and secretary of the Maharashtra unit Preeti Sharma Menon said the Modi wave led to the fiasco. “We hadn’t realised how big the mandate was for development and a stable government. However, our aim in fielding candidates from all seats was not to win Lok Sabha seats everywhere, but increase our Statewide presence,” she said.

Social activist Medha Patkar, the most popular face of the party, managed to get fewer than a lakh votes in the Mumbai Northeast constituency. She, however, said that for a debutant party, it was not a bad performance. “We made a few mistakes as a party, but standing third or fourth is a remarkable feat,” she said on the day of the results. BJP candidate Kirit Somaiya won the seat.

BSP got more votes The overall mood of the electorate was not to experiment with an alternative political culture. The AAP had expected to gain at least a six per cent vote share in the State, but got just a little over two per cent with 10.81 lakh votes. The Bahujan Samaj Party got a higher vote share of 2.6 per cent.

The AAP candidate from Chandrapur, Wamanrao Chatap, crossed the two-lakh mark and stood third in the constituency, which voted Hansraj Ahir of the BJP to power. He is the only candidate who has not lost his security deposit. Even high-profile candidates — for instance, Vijay Pandhare from Nashik and Anjali Damania from Nagpur who exposed the irrigation scam — did not strike a chord with the electorate.

Resignation backfired Experts say the defeat in all seven seats in Delhi shows that the AAP suffered the repercussions of party chief Arvind Kejriwal’s sudden resignation as Chief Minister, something felt everywhere in the country.

“When the AAP government was formed in Delhi in December, all eyes were on it. Kejriwal stepped down in a few days and that spelled doom for the party,” said Sharad Kumar, State coordinator of the Association for Democratic Reforms.

“Moreover, the party did not have a proper governance campaign or foresight. They were only fighting on the anti-corruption sentiment which did not help,” Mr Kumar added.

The fledgling party did have a lot of supporters until many chose to look away at the last minute, to cast a pro or anti Modi vote. “I did not want to waste my vote so I voted the Congress,” said Bhavika Thakkar from the Mumbai central constituency.

Lessons learnt

“We had limited resources and no time for proper organisation. Many candidates were chosen barely a month before the election,” said advocate Shakil Ahmed who was in charge of campaigning for the Marathwada region. Mr Ahmed has reportedly given his resignation letter to step down from the state executive committee of AAP, taking “moral responsibility” of the failure.

Mrs Menon said that while the party presence has now strengthened in the state, it could leap forward into the assembly elections in October. “AAP is here to stay. The biggest lesson we have learned from this election is that marketing a product to the electorate sells. We will try and package ourselves better now,” she said.

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