Chandigarh: In what could be termed as further damnation of the Aam Aadmi Party top leadership, party candidate Harjeet Singh lost his security deposit in the high stakes Rajori Garden bye-elections, results for which were declared on Thursday afternoon.
Shiromani Akali Dal’s Manjinder Sirsa, who contested the by-poll on the symbol of SAD ally Bharatiya Janata Party scored an emphatic win defeating his nearest rival Meenakshi Chandela of the Congress with a margin of over 14,000 votes. While Sirsa polled 40,602 votes, Chandela secured 25,950 votes, with Harjeet Singh managing to bag only 10,243 votes.
The results of the elections are significant especially when the AAP is trying all out to wrest control of the Delhi Municipal Corporation, elections for which are slated to be held on April 23. The party’s lame duck government in the category C Delhi state has faced numerous challenges in the past on account of BJP majority in the MCD. Whereas the AAP government has engaged in a continuous conflict on policy issues with the Central government, which controls the most important areas of administrative functioning in the Delhi state, the BJP controlled MCD has not shown any keenness in implementing its policies at the ward level either, leaving it with little to do.
Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has apportioned the blame for the party defeat on the ‘anger’ of Rajori Garden constituency on account of AAP lawmaker Jarnail Singh’s resignation from the seat to contest the Punjab elections.
“People in the Rajori Garden assembly constituency were angry after Jarnail Singh resigned. We tried to make them understand, but it seems they are still angry with AAP,” Sisodia said. That in itself could be a very simplistic explanation to offer for the massive loss, where AAP candidate could secure only 14 per cent of the vote.
The fact remains that AAP cadre and its sympathizers have been showing signs of disenchantment with the leadership style of Arvind Kejriwal, who has emerged as an absolute autocrat in the party. As is the case with any autocratic set up Kejriwal has surrounded himself with personalities who are willing to toe his line without asking any questions. The autocratic style is being blamed for the party’s defeat in Punjab, where Kejriwal could not trust the local Punjabi leadership enough to have them supplanted with his favorites Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak, followed by Delhi-appointed ‘party observers’ who ruled the roost at the constituency level. The party structure in Punjab effectively pushed the local leadership to inconsequential positions, which seemingly did not go down well with the proud Punjabi electorate resulting in the Congress party forging ahead in the final reckoning.
Analyzing its defeat in Punjab, the majority of AAP Punjab leadership lay the blame on the ‘meddling’ of Sanjay Singh and Durgesh Pathak, who they say managed to turn a surefire victory into defeat.
Interestingly, when it comes to the Punjab elections, the Congress party Central leadership seemed to have let go of the absolute control that it otherwise exercised over elections in majority of the states. In hindsight, it managed to do the right thing by giving its Punjab strongman, Captain Amarinder, a carte blanche in all critical aspects of the elections, and the results are for all to see.
Kejriwal needs to learn fast, before it gets too late to salvage the believers elsewhere.