On 3rd December, the results for four state assembly elections were announced by the Election Commission of India. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won three out of four states comfortably, the Congress party lost 2 states where it was ruling along with Madhya Pradesh, but got a win in Telangana. Another party that was contesting these elections, with Delhi and Punjab CMs campaigning for it, was the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Out of five states where assembly elections took place, AAP fielded its candidates in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In Mizoram and Telangana, AAP did not field any candidates.
In Rajasthan, 85 AAP candidates contested the state assembly elections; in MP, 66 candidates were fielded, and 54 candidates were trying their luck in Chhattisgarh. In total, AAP fielded 205 candidates in three states. However, not even one of them won a seat, and most of them lost their deposits.
Notably, AAP’s top leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann actively campaigned for the elections in these states. Delhi CM and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal had even skipped Enforcement Directorate’s summons citing his importance in campaigning for these elections. Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann talked about the “progress” these states made regarding education and health during campaigning. However, the voters did not heed their claims, and AAP failed to open accounts in all three states.
AAP has been working hard to expand its presence in states outside its base turfs. From Goa to Gujarat, they have tried their luck but failed immensely. In Chhattisgarh, AAP received a 0.94 per cent vote share. In Rajasthan, the vote share was only 0.37 per cent, and in Madhya Pradesh, AAP managed to get only 0.44 per cent of the votes.
This is not the first time AAP lost deposits in Assembly elections. In December 2022, the party lost the deposit in all 67 seats in Himachal Pradesh. In Gujarat, AAP won five seats but lost the deposits in 126 seats. Similarly, the party lost deposits on all seats in the Karnataka Assembly Elections in May 2023.