Adampur bypoll: Setback for Kejriwal’s Haryana dreams

The Adampur bypoll took place only a few months after the AAP was swept to power in neighbouring Punjab in a stunning performance. Encouraged by the Punjab results, the party had contested civic body polls in Haryana as well. Though the results were not encouraging in those, the party had succeeded in winning the post of chairperson in a small municipality. Then, with principal opposition the Congress not in the fray, as its supporters did not contest on the Congress ticket, AAP had secured a little over 10 per cent votes.

But the AAP had high hopes from the Adampur bypoll. Probably that’s why convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann addressed a rally in Adampur in September, even before the announcement of the poll schedule for the by-election. They had also taken out a roadshow in the constituency at the time. A day before the roadshow, Kejriwal had launched his “Make India No 1” campaign too, from neighbouring Hisar.

At the time, Kejriwal had termed the Adampur bypoll as a “trailer” for the 2024 Assembly election in Haryana. He had stated: “After two years, there will be (Assembly) elections in Haryana. Give one chance to your lal (son)… Kejriwal. If I don’t change Haryana, kick me out of Haryana. I won’t return to Haryana again.”

During his poll rally, Kejriwal had also mentioned how he had studied in neighbouring Hisar during his school and college days. Arvind Kejriwal’s native town Siwani (Bhiwani) is only a few kilometers away from the Adampur constituency.

Even during the bypoll campaign, Mann had taken out a roadshow in the constituency. A few days before polling, Kejriwal was also scheduled to take out a similar roadshow, but it was cancelled at the last moment, citing the bridge collapse tragedy in Gujarat.

Despite all efforts by the local AAP leadership, the party could not attract the voters of Adampur. A section of AAP leaders in Haryana say the top leadership could not fully focus on Adampur because of the impending Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections. While citing the consolidation of a large section of Jats behind the Congress’s Jai Prakash, they also say voters in Adampur had polarised along caste lines. Although AAP candidate Satender Singh is a Jat, he could not attract much support from community members.

Commenting on the poll result, Rajya Sabha MP and AAP Haryana in-charge Sushil Gupta said: “People know the AAP for changing the system, and it was not considered appropriate for a by-election battle.”

Setback to INLD too

With a distant third spot in the Adampur bypoll, the INLD, which has been trying for a revival since 2019, also suffered a huge setback. The INLD leadership may take its Adampur performance—which is still better than AAP’s—as a consolation prize for the party, but it was nowhere in the fray. The absence of a significant vote share in the bypoll is bound to demoralise party workers, especially after patriarch Om Prakash Chautala himself campaigned for the candidate, Kurda Ram Nambardar. Contrary to expectations of the INLD leadership, a large section of Jat voters consolidated behind Jai Prakash of the Congress. A significant share in Nambradar’s total tally of 5,248 votes, is also from his native village, Balsamand.

In the 2019 Haryana Assembly polls, the INLD could win just one seat, when Abhay Singh Chautala was elected from the Ellenabad seat. During the farmer’s agitation against the three farm laws, he resigned from the Vidhan Sabha in support of the agitators. But when Ellenabad went to the bypolls in 2021, he could barely win it back. In 2020, too, the INLD performed poorly in the Barada bypoll, where the Congress defeated the BJP candidate.