Assembly polls: 'Doda barfi' for AAP in Jammu and Kashmir, zilch in Haryana

Assembly poll results: The AAP, which is in power in Punjab and Delhi, now has members in the legislative assemblies of Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, and Gujarat.

In Short

• AAP's Mehraj Malik wins Doda in Jammu by over 4,500 votes
• This is AAP's first-ever Assembly seat win in J&K
• Party fails to open account in Haryana

The AAP sprang a surprise by winning its first-ever seat in Jammu and Kashmir, getting a toehold in the Union Territory, even as it failed to open its account in Haryana. Mehraj Malik won the Muslim majority Doda seat in Jammu by over 4,500 votes. The AAP, which is in power in Punjab and Delhi, now has members in the legislative assemblies of J&K, Goa, and Gujarat.

Mehraj Malik, who won the District Development Council (DDC) polls in J&K in 2020, grabbed attention for his vehement criticism of the administration under the Lieutenant Governor in J&K.

Malik, who joined the AAP in 2013, is the district development councillor from the Kahara segment. In 2014, the Doda seat was won by the BJP.

Speaking on his win, Malik said, "The mandate belongs to the people, the votes are theirs, and the victory is for them. Congratulations to the people, because we are just a medium who couldn't stand to see the suffering of the public. We wanted to fight their battle, it was never about our personal fight."

HARYANA, J&K ELECTION RESULTS LIVE UPDATES

The AAP leader also spoke with party convenor Arvind Kejriwal on a video call, inviting him to J&K on October 10 to celebrate the win. Kejriwal congratulated Malik while stressing that the AAP now had MLAs in five states.

What makes the victory sweeter for Malik is the fact that he trumped two heavyweight leaders from the Congress and the National Conference. Doda was among the five seats where Congress and NC decided to have "friendly contests" despite a pre-poll alliance.

While the Congress fielded Sheikh Riyaz, the National Conference nominated Khalid Najib Suharwady for the seat.

Riyaz started his political career as a sarpanch and went on to serve as the general secretary of J&K Congress. On the other hand, Najib Suharwardy comes from a political family. His father, Maulana Attaullah Suharwady, won from Doda in the 1996 elections.

Najib also served as J&K's Home Minister from 2001 to 2002 in the then chief minister Farooq Abdullah's government.

AAP FAILS TO OPEN ACCOUNT IN HARYANA

Despite running a high voltage campaign in Haryana, the AAP drew a blank in the Hindi heartland state, securing a vote share of 1.77%. The results come as a major setback for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls next February.

The AAP went solo in the elections in Haryana, Kejriwal's home state, and fielded 89 candidates after failing to stitch up an alliance with the Congress.

Despite lying between Delhi and Punjab, ruled by the AAP, Haryana has remained impregnable for the Kejriwal-led party. Since its debut in 2014, the AAP has failed to win a single seat in any of the Assembly elections or the Lok Sabha polls in Haryana.

In 2019, the AAP lost all the 46 seats it contested and received a vote share less than NOTA. The party also lost the lone seat of Kurukshetra that it had contested in Haryana in the Lok Sabha polls as well as all the four constituencies it had fought in Delhi.