The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) got a severe drubbing at the hands of electorate of Uttarakhand in its electoral debut at the lok Sabha elections. Despite tall claims of the party leaders of putting a very good performance, the AAP candidates were not even among top three contestants in State. The lone exception was Anoop Nautiyal the party candidate from Tehri parliamentary constituency who was able to secure third position though he too forfeited his security deposit.
The AAP presented itself as an alternative to the BJP and Congress; it raised the issue of corruption and tried to woo the people of the State by offering a corruption free Government. The party brought out an election manifesto for Uttarakhand which raised the regional issues also. In an unprecedented move the party candidates presented the local manifestos for every parliamentary constituency of the state.
First Women director General of Police Kanchan Choudhry who was contesting from Haridwar lok Sabha seat was the one of the most high profile candidates of AAP, she failed to create any impact on the voters and had to contend with only 18,170 votes. She secured a poor fourth position behind the BJP, Congress and BSP. AAP also had high hopes from Tehri lok Sabha seat as its candidate Anoop Nautiyal drew everyone’s attention with his flamboyance. Nautiyal too managed only 24,043 votes and was a poor third behind the BJP and Congress candidates. The State convener of AAP HC Arya could secure only 7,916 votes and secured a pathetic fifth position in Almora parliamentary constituency.
The fact that he secured fewer votes than even an independent candidate Sl Tamta should bring discomfort to the party leaders. Noted Poet BS Cheema captured attention when he was arrested and sent to Jail for violating model code of conduct but he failed to get the attention of electorate of Nainital US Nagar as he got only 13,472 votes. The party candidate from Garhwal constituency Rakesh Singh got 6,727 votes and was at fifth position.