When AAP received a pitiful 0.58 per cent vote in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections, it ended its debut in South India on Saturday. The candidates forfeited their deposits.
Anekal Doddaiah, the AAP’s candidate, received 8,839 votes, or 4.96 per cent of the total 1,78,196 votes, in Ron, a small, rural assembly constituency in the Gadag district, giving the party it is best showing for a group known for its middle-class and metropolitan roots. In cities like Bengaluru, where three of its well-known candidates, Brijesh Kalappa, Mohan Dasari, and Mathai K, ran for office, the party was thoroughly thrashed.
Image Source: The Indian Express
The party ran candidates in 208 of the state’s 224 assembly districts to make Karnataka its gateway to South India.
Of the 208 AAP candidates, only 72 received 1,000 or more votes. In Chickpet, Kalappa, a former Congress spokesperson who defected and joined the AAP, received only 600 votes. Compared to NOTA, AAP received fewer votes (0.58 vs 0.69%).
The AAP ran 29 candidates and received 20,000 votes in the 2018 elections.
Image Source: AAP Bengaluru @Twitter
Only 16 of the 28 assembly districts in Bengaluru saw the AAP receive 1,000 or more votes. Just 4,551 of the 3,34,616 votes were cast for the AAP in Mahadevapura, the scene of significant flooding last year and where the party waged an intensive election campaign centred on local issues.
It got 2,585 votes in Bangalore South, 1,055 in BTM Layout, 2,967 in CV Raman Nagar, 1,989 in Bommanahalli, 1,271 in Byatarayanapura, 4,46 in Dasarahalli, 1,026 in Hebbal, 2,319 in KR Puram, 1,600 in Mahalakshmi Layout, 2,092 in Padmanabhanagar, 1,191 in RR Nagar, 1,488 in Sarvagnanagar, 1,604 in Shanthinagar, 1,634 in Shivajinagar and 2,199 in Yeshwantpur.
In 19 assembly districts in North Karnataka, the AAP performed significantly well, garnering more than 3,000 votes for three seats. According to Prithvi Reddy, the president of the party’s Karnataka branch, voters chose a party with the best chance of winning because they wanted to eliminate the BJP. He stated that the AAP anticipated winning a seat with a 6% vote share.
Prithvi Reddy
Image Source: Deccan Herald
Reddy argued that it was “our moral responsibility” to run for practically all seats. He noted the party’s success in North Karnataka. He claimed the area was “fertile to change” He indicated that the AAP wants to concentrate on the BBMP, zilla panchayat, and taluk panchayat elections.
Former KAS officer Mathai claimed that the BJP was defeated in Shanthinagar due to two factors: opposing candidates buying votes and a large turnout of Muslims and Christians voting against the BJP. He was hoping for at least 15,000 votes but only received 1,604.
According to Mathai, Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the AAP and the chief minister of Delhi, would have changed the Legislative Election outcome if he had campaigned there.
Image Source: Prithvi Reddy @Twitter
