The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came up trumps in the by-election to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat but its fortunes seemed to have nose-dived in the Karnataka Assembly elections, where most of the candidates even forfeited their deposits.
Senior party leader Brijesh Kalappa, who was contesting from Chickpet, only secured 600 votes, or just 0.47 per cent, with even Uttama Prajaakeeya Party candidate M.V. Vishnu ahead with 753 votes, and Independent K.G.F. Babu aka Yousuf Shariff securing 20,931 votes. Kalappa's tally was even less than NOTA votes (1,287).
The seat was won by the BJP's candidate, Uday B. Garudachar, who secured 57,299 votes defeating his Congress opponent R.V. Devraj by 12,113 votes.
"It appears that the electorate was single-minded in its desire to defeat BJP and saw INC as the only option. Me included, AAP Candidates across the State have faced decimation. We accept this decision with equanimity.
"Throughout the electoral process, electors were unanimous that we should have begun from BBMP up, and not assembly down. We hear and accept this message from the electorate with great humility," Kalappa tweeted.
In Haveri, the AAP candidate Sujata P. Chavan secured 988 votes while in Gubbi, the AAP's Prabhuswamy B.S. got 1834 votes.
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--IANS
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