AAP has no future: Himachal CM

Shimla, Jun 26 (PTI) After AAP's defeat in bypoll to Punjab's Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday said the party has ''no future'' in the country, whereas the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit claimed that the results will have no impact in the upcoming assembly elections in the hill state.

The Congress, too, said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will cease to exist in Himachal Pradesh that will go to Assembly elections later this year.

Within three months of AAP's landslide victory in Punjab Assembly elections, the party lost Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll where SAD (Amritsar) president Simranjeet Singh Mann defeated AAP's Gurmail Singh by a margin of 5,822 votes. After winning Punjab Assembly polls in March, AAP started eyeing upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled to be held in December. AAP supremo Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann have addressed several public meetings in Himachal Pradesh.

Responding to AAP defeat in Sangrur bypoll, CM Thakur said that the people of Punjab rejected AAP within three months due to deteriorating law and order situation there, which clearly indicated that the party has no future in the country. ''What to talk of Himachal, AAP has no future in the country,'' he told PTI. Law and order situation has become worse and Khalistani activities have risen after AAP came to power in Punjab, he added.

However, Himachal AAP spokesperson Gaurav Sharma told PTI that Sangrur bypoll result would have no impact in the upcoming Assembly elections in the hill state.

There may be some regional issues in Sangrur due to which AAP lost, but the voters in Himachal Pradesh have already made up their mind to support the party in the upcoming Assembly elections as they are fed up with both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, Sharma added.

Meanwhile, state Congress spokesperson Devendra Bushahri told PTI that AAP had almost no existence in Himachal Pradesh earlier too. ''Whatever AAP's existence is, it will cease to exist in the hill state after Sangrur bypoll result,'' he said.

The Congress spokesperson further stated that Punjab voters rejected AAP in Sangrur bypoll as Khalistani activities increased and law and order worsened there after AAP's victory in Assembly elections in March.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)