 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal mounted a blazing campaign in the hot summer after he was released from the Tihar jail on interim bail on May 10, drawing huge crowds at rallies and roadshows, but it proved insufficient to propel his Aam Aadmi Party past the Bharartiya Janata Party challenge in the national capital.
In his pursuit to oust the saffron party from power, Kejriwal canvassed not only for AAP candidates but also for those fielded by Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners.
Apart from Delhi, he campaigned in states like Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.
However, the massive turnout at his rallies could not translate into votes in the Lok Sabha elections as a formidable BJP swept aside the spirited challenge by his party in Delhi.
In Punjab, the AAP won only three seats of all the 13 it contested, its chances dented by the Congress, its INDIA bloc ally in Delhi.
The Congress is set to win seven seats in Punjab.
The AAP contested a total of 22 seats: 13 in Punjab, four in Delhi, two each in Gujarat (Bharuch and Bhavnagar) and Assam (Sonitpur and Dibrugarh) and one in Haryana (Kurukshetra). The party drew a blank in Gujarat, Delhi and Assam.
Kejriwal was arrested on May 21, and this could not have came at a worse time for the AAP that was already grappling with the absence of its top leaders -- former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia is in jail in connection with the excise policy case, former health minister Satyendar Jain is in jail in connection with a separate money laundering case.
Kejriwal's arrest put a spanner in the AAP's campaign and led to delay in announcement of party's manifesto, decision on strategy of the party for the electoral battle and other outreach activities.
The campaign was moving at a snail's pace, with his wife Sunita Kejriwal trying to lead the charge.
But his party leaders say that after his release, the 55-year-old energised their whole electioneering as he jumped in full-throttle without wasting any time.
In his very first address to party workers and leaders after coming out of the jail, Kejriwal taunted the BJP saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi is asking for votes for his 'successor' Union Home Minister Amit Shah as Modi will 'retire' on turning 75.
"These people ask INDIA bloc about (PM) face. I am asking the BJP who will be their PM? Modi ji is turning 75 on September 17 next year. He had made the rule that people aged 75 would be retired. They retired LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sumitra Mahajan," Kejriwal said at the AAP headquarters.
"Modi will retire next year. He is seeking votes for making Amit Shah the prime minister. Will Shah fulfil Modiji's guarantee?" he asked.
The counter came quickly from Shah, who told a press conference in Hyderabad that Modi will continue to lead the country and there is 'no confusion in the BJP' on the issue.
Kejriwal then went on a demanding campaign trail, conducting press conferences, giving media interviews, holding roadshows and addressing rallies which attracted huge crowds.
In his speeches, Kejriwal, an IITian and a former civil servant who quit his job as a tax officer before becoming an activist and then a politician, presented himself as a victim of the BJP's alleged vendetta politics.
He said he was sent to jail not because he was corrupt but because he raised voice against the "dictatorship". He told the crowd he needed their support to save the Constitution and the country.
"The Supreme Court had given me this time to campaign for the elections. 21 days completed yesterday, and now I am going straight from here to Tihar.
These 21 days are very unforgettable for me. I did not waste even a single minute; I campaigned 24 hours a day to save the country," he told supporters at the party office before surrendering at the jail on June 2 after his interim bail expired.
His AAP was contesting in an alliance with Congress in Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh while they had failed to reach a consensus for Punjab.
These elections were a litmus test for Kejriwal and AAP and these were the first Lok Sabha polls the AAP was contesting after being granted the status of a national party.
The stakes were high for the party wherever it was contesting, but more so in Punjab, since it is in power in the state and was contesting all the 13 seats.
Emerging from the anti-corruption movement of 2011, the AAP was founded in the national capital by Kejriwal and his close associates in November 2012.
While the AAP had registered a resounding mandate in the 2015 and 2020 Delhi Assembly polls, it has drawn a blank in the Lok Sabha polls. (Depends on poll results)
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 in connection with the excise policy-linked money laundering case with the AAP alleging that it was done to derail the party's election campaign.
Recovering from the initial shock from his arrest, party leaders regrouped and rolled out the 'Jail ka jawab vote se' campaign under which its senior leaders led multiple jan sabhas, organised signature campaigns and other activities to garner support.
The AAP also thought there would be sympathy among people over his arrest and it would work in the party's favour, but evidently it did not turn out that way.
Kejriwal first led the AAP to form a government in Delhi in 2013 with outside support from the Congress.
But it lasted only 49 days, as Kejriwal resigned since he was unable to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in Delhi Assembly.