Behind AAP’s ‘Make India No. 1’ launch in Hisar — make it in Haryana

The party’s itinerary for the two leaders is a giveaway — as is its action plan over the past few months.

On Wednesday, after interacting with youths in Hisar, Kejriwal will visit the residence of local leader Sonali Phogat who died under mysterious circumstances in Goa last month. Sonali had contested the 2019 Assembly election as a BJP candidate from Adampur but lost to Kuldeep Bishnoi of the Congress.

On Thursday, Kejiwal and Mann will address a rally in Adampur town after a roadshow in the area. Kejriwal, incidentally, hails from Siwani town in the neighbouring Bhiwani district.

The Adampur bypoll has been necessitated by the resignation of Bishnoi from the Haryana Vidhan Sabha. Following his differences with former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Bishnoi had left the Congress and joined the BJP. And due to the district’s close proximity to the national capital, the bypoll is bound to draw attention.

AAP has also decided to contest the panchayat polls for Zila Parishad seats, which is expected to be announced soon. In June, the party had contested the civic body polls, fielding candidates for municipal chief in 45 civic bodies and securing 1.31 lakh votes — 10.19 per cent of the total votes polled. It also succeeded in opening its account by winning a relatively smaller municipality, Ismailabad, in Kaithal district.

AAP leaders claim the party’s candidates secured nearly 16 per cent votes in the municipalities situated in the north zone of the state, which is considered a stronghold of BJP. At the same time, some of them acknowledge that they had expected a far better performance, especially after the stunning victory in neighbouring Punjab in the Assembly polls — and with the principal opposition Congress not in the battlefield actively.

But they also pointed to a silver lining: participation in local polls has helped in creating a cadre at the grassroot level for future contests.

AAP’s push for Haryana was visible in May, when Kejriwal addressed a rally in Kurukshetra, which was named “Aab Badlega Haryana”. He had also challenged the ruling BJP in the state to contest the 2024 Assembly election under the leadership of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, in a veiled attack on Khattar’s hold among voters.

The AAP had contested the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls but could not perform well. Party leaders now hope that the renewed push will help the party turn the corner – starting with the Adampur bypoll, which will be announced soon.