AAP seen drawing blank in Haryana despite Arvind Kejriwal's 'son of soil' push

AAP, which was hoping to get a foothold in the state after coming to power in neighbouring Delhi and Punjab, contested 89 seats after failing to stitch up an alliance with Congress.

In Short

• AAP manages to garner just 1.53% of the votes in Haryana
• Party contested 89 seats after failing to stitch an alliance with Congress
• In 2019, AAP's vote share was less than NOTA

Despite running a high voltage campaign in Haryana and projecting Arvind Kejriwal as the "son of the soil", the AAP is likely to draw a blank in the Hindi heartland state, show trends as of 11 am. AAP, which was hoping to get a foothold in the state after coming to power in neighbouring Delhi and Punjab, managed just 1.53% of the votes, as per Election Commission data.

The AAP contested 89 of Haryana's 90 seats after failing to stitch an alliance with the Congress. The AAP's campaign, for most part, was hit due to the absence of its key face Arvind Kejriwal in the lead up to the polls. However, after Kejriwal was released on bail in the Delhi liquor policy case on September 13, the party's campaign gained steam.

Kejriwal held his first roadshow in Haryana on September 20, less than three weeks before the state went to polls. It seems it was too late for the party to make an impact on the voters.

In 2019, the AAP lost all the 46 seats it contested in Haryana and received a vote share of less than NOTA. In fact, since its poll debut in 2014, AAP has failed to open its account in any of the Assembly elections or the Lok Sabha polls in Haryana.

In a veiled dig at Kejriwal, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal accused the former Chief Minister of "betraying" the INDIA bloc and cutting the votes of the Congress. The remark came as trends showed the BJP on track to secure its third consecutive win in the state after being on the backfoot initially.

"He entered Haryana only to take revenge from the Congress. He falsely accused me of being a BJP agent, and today he himself is betraying the INDIA bloc and cutting the votes of the Congress. He even fielded a candidate to defeat Vinesh Phogat.

Why has the situation reached such a stage that he is not able to save his deposit in his home state? There is still time. Leave the ego, remove the veil from your blurred eyes, stop doing drama and work for the people," Maliwal tweeted.