AAP fails to make the cut, but gets tag of ‘national party’

Karam Prakash

New Delhi, December 8

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that had been claiming it would make a mark in the Gujarat Assembly elections had to settle for five seats in the 182-member House with a tag of “national party” to celebrate.

AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked the people of Gujarat for helping his party “breach the BJP’s Gujarat fortress”, and hoped to win the state in next Assembly elections. In a video message, Kejriwal said though the AAP had not won many seats in Gujarat, the votes it got helped it attain the national party status. “Very few parties enjoy the status and now we are one of them. Ours is only a 10-year-old party,” he said.

AAP secured a vote share of 12.98 per cent, almost half of the 27.3 per cent attained by the Congress, a party that has ruled Gujarat and remained in the opposition for the past seven terms. In Himachal, AAP failed to open its account and got a vote share of 1.1 per cent.

The Eligibility

To be a national party, a party has to fulfil any of the three conditions:

1. Win 2% of the seats in the Lok Sabha from at least three different states

2. Poll 6% of the total votes in an Assembly election

3. Have 4 Lok Sabha seats and be recognised as a state party in at least four states

The top AAP leadership, including from Punjab, campaigned extensively in Gujarat. The party was hopeful it would get the support of the dominant Patidar (Patel) community in Saurashtra, which accounts for 54 seats. It, however, couldn’t open its account in the region.

AAP’s prominent Patel faces had to taste defeat. Former Patidar reservation agitation leader Alpesh Kathiriya lost to BJP heavyweight and sitting MLA Kishore Kanani by over 16,000 votes. Gujarat AAP chief Gopal Italia, who also belongs to the community, lost by 61,000 votes to minister Vinu Moradiya. AAP’s CM face Isudan Gadhvi lost from Khambhalia to BJP’s Ayar Mulubhai by a margin of 18,745 votes. In the five seats it won, AAP defeated Congress in Dediapada and the BJP in Gariadhar, Botad Jamjodhpur and Visavadar.

Presence in 4 states now

AAP is already a state party in Punjab, Delhi and Goa and needed one more state to be a national party. By winning five seats in Gujarat, the 10-year-old old party is now state party in Gujarat. Therefore, it is now eligible for the status of national party