Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Secures 3 Seats in Punjab, Faces Defeat in Delhi to BJP

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind Kejriwal

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contested in 22 constituencies across Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, and Assam. The party succeeded in winning three seats in Punjab, enhancing its parliamentary presence from the single seat it held in the 2014 and 2019 elections. However, AAP could not secure any seats in Delhi, failing to replicate its state-level success at the national level.

Aam Aadmi Party national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had anticipated a better outcome for the party, marking its first election as a recognized national party.

Emphasizing its “kaam ki rajneeti” (politics of work), the INDIA bloc member negotiated firmly with the Congress, resulting in a 4-3 seat-sharing arrangement in the national capital and securing the Bharuch seat in Gujarat. This move required the Congress to deny Faisal Patel, son of the late Congress veteran Ahmed Patel, a ticket from his father’s former constituency.

In Punjab and Assam, Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress competed independently, not under the INDIA bloc. AAP was optimistic about the INDIA bloc’s potential to gain power on June 4, with Mr. Kejriwal outlining “Kejriwal’s 10 guarantees” for national implementation if the alliance succeeded.

AAP’s role within the INDIA bloc gained prominence after Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case, which highlighted the party’s campaign message that democracy and the Constitution were at risk if the BJP returned to power.

Despite Mr. Kejriwal’s significant campaign efforts and direct criticisms of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, AAP struggled to change its national electoral fortunes.

Senior AAP leader Gopal Rai expressed satisfaction with the increased parliamentary representation from Punjab and noted the party’s success in narrowing the BJP’s victory margin in Delhi. “The BJP aimed to dismantle AAP by imprisoning its senior leaders. People questioned our campaign capabilities without our leaders, but we delivered a strong fight and increased our vote share,” he stated.

In Assam’s Dibrugarh and Sonitpur seats, where AAP ran independently, the party finished third. In Gujarat, AAP ranked second in the Bharuch and Bhavnagar seats, contested as part of the INDIA bloc. In Haryana’s Kurukshetra, also contested within the INDIA bloc, AAP had a close contest with BJP’s Naveen Jindal and finished second. Despite losing all four Delhi seats, AAP triumphed in Sangrur, Hoshiarpur, and Anandpur Sahib among the 13 seats it contested in Punjab.

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