AAP registers first win in J&K; fails to make mark in Haryana
The Aam Aadmi Party registered its first victory in Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday when its candidate Mehraj Malik defeated his nearest rival from the BJP
New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party registered its first victory in Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday when its candidate Mehraj Malik defeated his nearest rival from the BJP in Doda constituency by a margin of over 4,538 votes. Malik, a District Development Council (DDC) member, polled 23,228 votes against BJP's Gajay Singh Rana's 18,690 votes.
Malik unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha elections from Udhampur constituency early this year. AAP had fielded seven candidates out of 90 Assembly segments. The party, which is in power in Delhi and Punjab, was granted national party status in September last year. It also has MLAs in Gujarat and Goa. However, the Haryana Assembly poll outcome has come as a blow to the Aam Aadmi Party, which hoped to make a mark in the elections.
The party drew a blank with its senior vice president of the state unit Anurag Dhanda is among those who suffered a big defeat. No AAP nominee was in the contest in any of the 90 assembly seats, as per the ECI data. AAP, which has governments in Delhi and Punjab, did not have any electoral success in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.
