Chandigarh: With Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal coming out of prison on Friday hours after the Supreme Court granted him bail, the AAP is in an upbeat mood as this development has given its candidates, leaders and cadres the much-needed boost ahead of the Haryana Assembly polls.
Political observers believe that immediately after coming out of Tihar Jail, Arvind Kejriwal would start his campaign with focus largely on seats that share boundaries with Delhi and Punjab.
The AAP has fielded candidates on all 90 Assembly seats and it has also announced 40 star campaigners for the elections.
They comprise CM Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, and leaders Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia.
Expressing confidence over the release of their party supremo, Haryana AAP chief Sushil Gupta told IANS, “This is a big slap on the face of the BJP. They should feel ashamed that they put Arvind Kejriwal in jail in a false case.
“Despite attempts by the BJP to trouble him with a false case and re-arrest him even after the Supreme Court granted bail, the court has now condemned this misuse of power.
“The bail for Arvind Kejriwal brings joy and increased enthusiasm to our workers across India. Especially in Haryana, we will fight the elections with full strength and uproot the arrogant BJP government.”
The AAP has launched its campaign much ahead of its rivals, mainly the Congress and the state’s ruling BJP by targeting the government over the issues of unemployment, law and order and the Agnipath scheme.
CM Kejriwal’s wife Sunita launched ‘Kejriwal Ki 5 Guarantee’ programme promising free electricity, free medical treatment, free education, Rs 1,000 per month to every woman and employment for the youth.
In the recently-held Lok Sabha polls, while the Congress-led INDIA bloc led in the 46 Assembly segments of Haryana, the BJP candidates were ahead in the remaining 44 seats.
From a 58.21 per cent vote share in the 2019 parliamentary polls, the vote share of the BJP slipped to 46.10 per cent in 2024 by losing five seats to the Congress.
The BJP’s vote share in the October 2019 Assembly elections was 36.49 per cent when the party could not cross the halfway mark in the 90-member Assembly and stitched a post-poll alliance with the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP).
The Congress registered over 15 per cent rise in its vote share in 2024 in comparison to the 2019 parliamentary election vote share.
The Congress after bagging five seats, secured a 43.68 per cent vote share, up from 28.51 per cent in 2019.
The AAP, which contested the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat in alliance with the Congress, lost by a slender margin by securing a 3.95 per cent vote share in comparison to the 0.87 per cent vote share of the JJP and 1.74 per cent of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
In the state, the legacy of former Deputy Prime Minister and the state’s tallest Jat leader, Chaudhary Devi Lal who, with his family ruled the state’s dusty and defection-ridden politics for decades, is shrinking owing to the family feud.
Political observers say the AAP is looking to capture the vote share of the JJP and the INLD.
Campaigning in the state, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Thursday said this time the Assembly polls were the most interesting elections and if the party comes to power, a triple engine of development will run.
“The AAP is the fastest growing party in the history of Independent India and is going to contest elections with full strength on all 90 seats. When the Aam Aadmi Party contests elections, it does not contest elections to lose, but fights elections to serve the people by forming the government,” he said.
Chadha was in Karnal to support the party’s Assandh candidate Amandeep Jundla who filed his nomination papers.
Addressing workers at the party office after a road show, Chadha said the people of Haryana have given a chance to all the parties.
“No one has worked for Haryana, they worked only to make his party and family rich. The people of Haryana have tried forming governments with the BJP, the JJP, the Congress and the INLD, but no one has served the people. This time the people of Haryana should give a chance to the Aam Aadmi Party,” he said.
Playing the card of public-centric initiatives, Chadha said, “If you want Arvind Kejriwal’s Delhi school model, mohalla clinics, free bus travel, free pilgrimage and free electricity and water in Haryana too, then elect the Aam Aadmi Party to form the government in Haryana. The biggest thing is that Arvind Kejriwal himself is from Haryana. Today your son Arvind Kejriwal is fighting for you.”
The term of the Haryana Assembly is due to expire on November 3 with the 90 Assembly Constituencies — 73 general and 17 reserved for SCs.
Haryana will go to the polls for the 90-member Assembly on October 5 with ballot counting on October 8.
(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at gulatiians@gmail.com)
–IANS
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