AAP not to contest Maharashtra assembly poll to avoid repeat of Haryana outcome

PUNE: Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday decided against contesting the Maharashtra assembly election in a bid to avoid a repeat of the Haryana election outcome in the state. "AAP is part of the INDIA bloc at the national level and will assist its member parties in defeating BJP. Therefore, AAP will not contest the 2024 assembly election in Maharashtra," said party's state spokesperson Mukund Kirdat said on Sunday.A statement issued by AAP stated that Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SCP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) had offered seats to AAP to contest in Maharashtra assembly election. "But the focus is not on contesting seats. It is more important to defeat the oppressive and authoritarian BJP. Else, like in Haryana, the division of opposition votes could help BJP alliance form govt in the state again," Kirdat said.AAP failed to make any inroads in Haryana after the party contested the assembly election there on its own as efforts to form an alliance with Congress fell through. According to political observers, the vote division of AAP and Congress helped BJP in securing more victories. "As a result, BJP managed to form govt despite anti-incumbency," a political observer said.During the previous election, AAP had fielded candidates in 46 of the 90 seats in Haryana, while it had contested 24 seats in Maharashtra. The party had contested almost all seats in Haryana in the recent election.As per election data, NOTA secured more votes in Maharashtra than AAP during the 2019 assembly poll. The party had secured 0.11% votes, while NOTA's vote share stood at 1.37% then. "The party has a better network in the state compared to the last election. It has grown significantly in the last five years. But even then, we have taken the stand not to contest polls for the larger public interest. Our politicians will campaign for MVA candidates," senior AAP politician Vijay Kumbhar said.