JOIN USGoogle trends suggest people's loss of interest in AAP for Himachal polls
When Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched AAP's Himachal Pradesh campaign, in April this year, with Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, he had thundered -- "If you want to get rid of corruption in Himachal Pradesh, elect AAP candidates to form an honest government in the coming elections".
Fresh off the success of clinching Punjab and looking to increase its footprint nationally, AAP decided to make its presence felt in both the poll-bound states of Himachal and Gujarat. However, presently, the party seems to be more focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state than the 'devbhoomi' in the hills. Kejriwal's party is contesting all 68 seats in Himachal but their campaign machine has seemingly run out of steam and there is no CM face from AAP in Himachal either - something they have established in Gujarat already, with Isudan Gadhvi.
Google trends data from the past year until recently, also shows people's interest in AAP in Himachal declining, compared to BJP and Congress in the state. While the Google search pattern for AAP in Himachal was almost on par with the BJP and Congress 12 months ago, it came down significantly in the last 30 days.
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Past 30 days:
Past 7 days:
The AAP faced several hurdles in Himachal. In April 2022, its state president Anup Kesari resigned and joined the BJP. Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain, in charge of making inroads and organising the party set-up in Himachal, was arrested by the CBI. Subsequent ED investigations into Manish Sisodia and the liquor excise policy controversy apparently affected the image of AAP in the hill state.
The appearance of 'Khalistani' flags on the gates of the state assembly complex in Dharamshala and at Una's DC office made people in Himachal jittery and rival parties linked the activities to the new government in Punjab. All these factors might have impacted Kejriwal-led AAP's poll strategy in Himachal.
AAP's election promises included a bunch of freebies, akin to BJP's offerings, but the saffron party campaigned more aggressively, with big names like Amit Shah, J P Nadda, and Yogi Adityanath showing up, not to mention the party's golden boy, Modi. The BJP has touted the "double engine" government in Himachal and promised improved coordination with the Centre if the party returns to power. Campaigners also upheld the development carried out in areas of Himachal. However, AAP, which had initially held multiple rallies in Himachal, appeared to have almost withdrawn from the state election campaigns in the recent past.