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The Aam Aadmi Party's loss in the Delhi assembly polls is a setback not just for the party but the entire Opposition, and raises questions over its future now that it will only be limited to Punjab, Swaraj India party co-founder and psephologist Yogendra Yadav said on Saturday.
Yadav, one of the founding members of the Aam Aadmi Party who was expelled in 2015, said it is also a setback for all the people who dreamt of an alternative form of politics in the country.
As per the latest trends, the Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to stage a comeback in Delhi after more than 26 years, sweeping the AAP away from the national capital in another big win to extend its saffron footprint in the country.
"This is a setback not just for the AAP but all those who dreamt of alternative politics in this country 10-12 years ago. It is a setback for all the parties which supported the AAP, and for the entire Opposition in the country.
"AAP can say they are just 4-5 percent behind (the BJP) in terms of vote share but both Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia losing despite all the efforts is a huge setback, which raises questions about the party's future" Yadav told PTI videos.
"They are not going to win in Gujarat, so the whole burden will be on Punjab where the BJP will try to break away its MLAs. How would the AAP stand this is a big question. It is a setback also for those who are not with the AAP today, but who dreamt of alternative politics...," he said.
Yadav, however, added that the AAP gave up on alternative politics soon (after coming to power), and got restricted to welfare schemes, which reached a saturation point.
"This is a challenge for the whole Opposition because the BJP wants total dominance in the country... They are not happy with just winning. And with the latest victory, their project of total dominance has moved further and the challenges for those opposing it has also increased," he said.
Asked what may have caused the shift of votes away from the AAP, Yadav said earlier a number of Modi supporters, who voted for the BJP in Lok Sabha, would switch to supporting AAP in assembly elections.
But this time, some of them stayed with the BJP in the assembly polls as well, he said.
"Many Modi supporters were voting for Kejriwal but this time they did not vote for him. The reasons -- the honest image of AAP took a dent because of the liquor scam, and the 'Sheesh Mahal' row..." he said.
'Sheesh Mahal' is a term coined by the BJP for the residence of the Delhi chief minister, which was renovated when Kejriwal was in the chair.
Yadav also termed the constant fights between the Delhi LG and the AAP government a reason behind the party's poll failure.
"The bickering that was going on, the basic works that were neglected, and the everyday fights between the LG and the government perhaps made the Modi supporters feel they should support the BJP this time," Yadav said.
He also said that the support extended to Kejriwal by several key members of the Congress-led INDIA bloc, including the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar, and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, hinted at some serious tension within the group, even as he said the AAP-Congress alliance could not have lasted.
"A Congress-AAP alliance could not have lasted, which was clear during the Lok Sabha polls as well. The AAP was uncomfortable in an anti-BJP alliance. Other parties like the SP (Samajwadi Party) and Trinamool Congress supported the AAP. They are crucial for the INDIA bloc. Their support for AAP indicates a serious tension because the INDIA bloc has been facing uncertainties since the Maharashtra elections. This is a sign of danger for the opposition," Yadav said.