AAP not to contest Maha, J’hand Assembly polls

New Delhi: Following its catastrophic defeat in the Haryana assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party has decided not to contest in the upcoming Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections. In addition, the party will boycott the by-elections for nine seats in Uttar Pradesh. The last date for nomination for the by-election in Uttar Pradesh is today. Whereas, for Maharashtra this date is 28 October.

The Aam Aadmi Party’s result in the Haryana assembly elections was extremely dismal.

The party bore the political pain of not forging an agreement with Congress. As a result, the party lost its deposits for the majority of the seats.Following this setback, the AAP has decided not to contest elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Political analyst Ajit Shukla believes that Aam Aadmi Party’s staying away from the election field will prove beneficial for the INDIA Alliance.

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal will now campaign for the All INDIA Alliance in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. It is believed that his move will help in increasing unity within the alliance and gathering votes.

In Maharashtra, Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) are contesting the elections together.

It is worth noting that the AAP contested 24 assembly seats in Maharashtra in 2019, but the party candidates lost their deposits on all the seats.Political experts believe that if the Aam Aadmi Party had contested the elections this time, it would have led to division of votes and direct loss to INDIA Alliance.

When the Aam Aadmi Party does not fight elections in Jharkhand and Maharashtra, the vote bank is unlikely to be harmed, and the India Alliance’s power will grow as a result of greater unity.

Similarly, in Jharkhand, there is a direct contest between BJP and India Alliance and the lack of the AAP might make it even more difficult for the BJP.