AAP to contest all seats in upcoming Haryana State polls, says Sandeep Pathak

Aam Aadmi Party national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak on Tuesday said the party’s Haryana unit, with its “formidable” booth-level teams, would contest all seats in the upcoming State Assembly election.

Aam Aadmi Party national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak on Tuesday said the party’s Haryana unit, with its “formidable” booth-level teams, would contest all seats in the upcoming State Assembly election.

Speaking on the sidelines of the party’s Haryana State executive meeting in Chandigarh to review its performance in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Pathak reiterated that AAP’s alliance with the Congress had “only been for the Lok Sabha polls”, and it would contest the Haryana State polls independently.

“Any decision on future alliances will be taken by AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal,” he said, adding that the party was officially kicking off its campaign for the upcoming State polls.

Despite not securing a victory from Haryana in the general election, Mr. Pathak said AAP had made a “good start” in Kurukshetra, the sole seat it contested in a 9-1 seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress. He said the party’s candidate, Haryana unit chief Sushil Gupta, had managed to secure a lead in four Assembly segments and offer opponents a “tough fight” in another two.

However, AAP lost the seat to BJP’s Naveen Jindal by over 29,000 votes in a triangular contest involving Indian National Lok Dal secretary-general Abhay Chautala.

Commenting on the recent announcements of the State BJP government on “addressing people’s grievances”, Mr. Pathak said the ruling party would need to answer some “straight” questions on the number of jobs it had created in its ten-year tenure, the tactics deployed by it to suppress the farmers’ movement, the number of schools and colleges it had constructed, and the deteriorating law and order situation.

He added that the BJP’s lacklustre performance in Haryana, where it won only five of the 10 Lok Sabha seats it contested, had “proved” that former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had “ruined” the State in his ten years at the helm, and incumbent CM Nayab Singh Saini had failed to bring matters under control.