'No point': AAP to not contest Jharkhand elections, unlikely to go for Maharashtra battle after Haryana horror show

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will not contest the Jharkhand assembly elections and is also unlikely to contest the Maharashtra polls. Senior sources within the party told India Today that they believe it is futile to negotiate for one or two assembly seats. 

"No point in negotiating for one or two assembly seats," said one of the sources. AAP's Maharashtra unit wants to fight for organisation expansion but the top leadership is not too keen on the idea and is instead focused on strengthening the INDIA bloc in the state, as per sources.

The party has decided to stay away from the Maharashtra contest as it doesn't want to create confusion in the voters' minds, which could lead to the splitting up of the anti-BJP votes. 

They further mentioned that it is highly unlikely that the top leadership of the party will agree to contesting on random assembly seats in Maharashtra. The decision was arrived at after seeking reports from the AAP's Maharashtra and Jharkhand units respectively. 

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) contested in both Maharashtra and Jharkhand in 2019 as well. In Maharashtra, the party fought on 24 of the 288 assembly seats and its 23 candidates lost their deposit. In Jharkhand, the party contested on 26 out of 81 seats and all the candidates lost their deposits. 

While Maharashtra will go to polls in a single phase on November 20, Jharkhand will vote in two phase. The first phase of voting in Jharkhand will take place on November 13 and the second phase on November 20. The results for both the states will be declared on November 23. 

AAP's decision to not contest in Maharashtra and Jharkhand is not surprising, considering its dismal performance in the Haryana assembly elections. 

The party drew a blank in the assembly polls despite contesting on 89 of the total 90 seats. The party secured only 1.53 per cent of the total vote share despite Kejriwal's emotive 'Haryana ka Beta' campaign.

The AAP's campaign in Haryana gathered momentum after Kejriwal was released on bail in the Delhi liquor policy scam case on September 13. He held his first roadshow in Haryana on September 20, which was too late to make an impact. 

In the Haryana election, the BJP won 48 seats and the Congress secured victory on 35 seats.