After Lok Sabha rout, a demoralised AAP top brass ‘unwilling’ to focus on Haryana polls

Aam Aadmi Party's Haryana chief Naveen Jaihind is to shoulder all responsibility of preparations for the assembly polls scheduled later this year.

Haryana AAP chief Naveen Jaihind (centre) | Twitter | @NaveenJaihind

New Delhi: A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ruled out an alliance with the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) for the Haryana assembly elections, scheduled later this year, sources in the party said its top brass is unlikely to oversee preparations for the state polls.

The decision was taken after the drubbing the party received in the recent Lok Sabha polls. AAP and JJP had fought the general elections together on all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state – AAP fought on four and JJP on six – but there was a clean sweep by the BJP.

“The party took this decision after its defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. The Haryana unit will bear all responsibility of the state election. They will be free to take all decisions according to their discretion,” said a party member, who did not wish to be named.

The BJP, on the other hand, is eyeing a repeat of its success and has decided to deploy 3 lakh ‘panna pramukhs‘ in the state.

According to highly placed sources in AAP, the party is likely to only focus on the Delhi assembly polls, scheduled for early next year. Not only Arvind Kejriwal but other top leaders too may abstain from electoral campaigning in Haryana.

Naveen Jaihind to shoulder responsibility

According to AAP’s Haryana spokesperson Sudhir Yadav, state party chief Naveen Jaihind will shoulder all responsibility of preparations for the polls.

“A meeting of all party leaders and members of Haryana will be held in Rohtak on Monday to discuss the future course of action for the upcoming elections. We have already prepared a detailed report which will be the basis of all our future discussions,” said Jaihind.

Talking about AAP’s break-up with JJP, he said, “Every party has its own way of functioning. There is also a possibility that we will align with another opposition party in the state.”

AAP’s declining vote share

While the top brass may not be interested in sharing responsibility Jaihind is hopeful of putting up a strong fight. “The incumbent party is always considered a strong contender in elections. But that does not mean the opposition should refrain from putting up a strong fight. We will fight these elections with full preparation,” he said.

Jaihind, however, refused to comment if Kejriwal will campaign for the party in Haryana or not. He said the party has been making efforts to make itself strong at the ground level.

It is to be noted that Kejriwal — who hails from Haryana’s Bhiwani — had addressed several rallies in the state during the Lok Sabha polls. Not to forget, as many as eight AAP MLAs in Delhi are originally from Haryana.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, AAP had managed to win 4.2 per cent votes while contesting all the seats on its own. But in the 2019 polls, its vote share came down to 0.36 per cent.