17 May,2014 08:45 AM IST | | Varun Singh
The Aam Aadmi Party failed to win a single seat in Maharashtra and got a mere 2.55 lakh votes in all six Mumbai seats combined. This dismal outcome has put a question mark on the party's future in the state
The Lok Sabha results have dealt a severe blow to the Aam Aadmi Party in Mumbai and Maharashtra, and put a question mark on the party's future in the state.
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BJP MLA Sardar Tara Singh offers a laddoo to Aam Aadmi Party leader Medha Patkar at a counting centre in Vikhroli (West). An AAP leader said Patkar could be the party's face for the coming assembly polls. Pic/Sameer Markande
If the fact that it has won zero seats in the state is not enough, consider this: the total number of votes the party got in all six seats in Mumbai is close to 2.60 lakh a little more than half of the 4.60-lakh vote margin that the BJP's Gopal Shetty won Mumbai North by. Most AAP candidates in Mumbai came fourth in their constituencies.
The party's star candidates like Meera Sanyal and Medha Patkar also failed to shine. The party got a mere 27,700 votes in Mumbai South Central and the highest number of votes polled by any of its candidates was Medha Patkar's 76,000 from Mumbai North East. In Mumbai South, Sanyal got only 34,500 votes.
Anjali Damania, a strong candidate against Nitin Gadkari, also came fourth in Nagpur. An AAP leader said the party is disappointed. "Party workers' morale is low.
We had expected to get more than 1 lakh votes in constituencies like Mumbai North West and Mumbai North East, but we got only 51,800 and 76,000 votes respectively. I don't know what will happen to the party in the future," he said.
Way forward
AAP's cadre gathered at Juhu beach for aatmachintan (introspection) and senior party leader Mayank Gandhi met volunteers to discuss the loss.
When mid-day contacted Gandhi, he initially said he was busy holding meetings with volunteers, and was unavailable later.
Asked about the party's plans in the assembly elections, a leader said, "If the AAP has to put up a strong show in the forthcoming assembly polls, it has to portray one strong face.
This has to be either Medha Patkar or Mayank Gandhi. Going by the votes she garnered, Patkar seems to be the obvious choice."
