AAP missing in rural areas

The Aam Aadmi Party had made tall claims about manning polling booths extensively with polling agents, but on the ground, the party’s presence was largely missing in rural Punjab.

In several constituencies like Patiala, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Hoshiapur, AAP did not have many booths in the villages. In Sangrur, the party put up booths but the cadre was scarce as these were manned by one or two workers.

In Patiala constituency, AAP did not have booths in Dera Bassi town area. The situation was worst in the villages, where no supporters were seen around the polling stations.

“This does not mean that people did not vote for us. We got an overwhelming response,” said Prof Manjit Singh, AAP spokesperson. He said the party got so much support in rural Punjab that SAD activists in Patiala resorted to violence to intimidate their workers. “It indicates our achievement,” said Singh.

In Ludhiana, AAP booths were few in the villages. “It was not possible for us to put up 2,000 in each constituency. It is the same situation as in Delhi. But we can only say that the results will be surprising,” said a party spokesperson.

Several residents especially youth claimed they voted for AAP even though they were not contacted by any AAP representative.

“We did not need to be contacted. My entire family voted for AAP,” said Abhishek, a youth from Patiala-rural Assembly segment.

AAP missing in rural areas