AAP fails to open its account

Despite being the first political party off-the-blocks and running a high-octane and innovative election campaign, the Aam Aadmi Party has failed to win a single seat from Goa. 

Party leaders now claim that lack of ground work could have been one of the reasons for its rout in the coastal state, which went to poll on February 4.

The poor performance of the AAP can be gauged from the fact Royla Fernandes, the party’s candidate from Benaulim Assembly constituency, was the only candidate to emerge second best in terms of vote count. Royla lost to Nationalist Congress Party’s Churchill Alemao by a margin of 5,191 votes.

Even the party’s chief ministerial candidate Elvis Gomes could only manage a fourth position in the Cuncolim Assembly constituency, where he managed to secure 3,437 votes, while the victor Clafasio Dias got 6,415 votes.

Speaking to reporters after his loss, Gomes said the mandate needs to be respected.
“We have to respect the people’s will. Fact remains that the AAP has made an impact on Goa and we will continue to work,” Gomes said.

AAP was the first political party to blow its electoral bugle way back in May 2016, with a well-attended rally addressed by Delhi Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who claimed that the party would win 35 Assembly seats. The claim was later whittled down to around 24-26 seats in the 40-member Goa Assembly, with party leaders claiming that a silent vote would benefit them.

Asked for the reasons for his loss, Gomes said that being a new party and prepping for the elections in the “shortest possible time”, may have affected their performance.