‘Big Achievement for AAP’: Gopal Rai Celebrates Victory in J&K’s Doda
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) celebrated its first victory in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, with Delhi’s Environment Minister, Gopal Rai, congratulating party candidate Mehraj Malik. He described the win as a significant milestone for the party.
In an interview with IANS, Gopal Rai expressed his excitement, stating, “I want to congratulate the people; this is a major achievement for us. AAP has become a national party by winning in Delhi, Punjab, Goa, and Gujarat. With our victory in J&K, we now have a presence in five states and Union Territories. This is a positive outcome for AAP in challenging circumstances, marking our expansion.”
Rai also expressed optimism for future elections in Haryana, acknowledging that AAP has yet to secure a seat in the state. “We fought hard in the elections. Our workers gave their all, but we didn’t achieve the expected results. We will address our shortcomings to strengthen our presence there,” he added.
Notably, Mehraj Malik won the Doda seat, defeating BJP’s Gajay Singh Rana by 4,470 votes. Malik received 22,944 votes, while Rana garnered 18,174. Khalid Najib Suhrawardy from the National Conference came in third with 12,975 votes, and other candidates, including Congress’s Sheikh Riaz Ahmed, received less than 5,000 votes.
The AAP successfully captured this Muslim-majority seat, previously held by the BJP in the 2014 elections. Malik, who joined AAP in 2013, is also an elected District Development Council member from the Kahara constituency.
Party chief Arvind Kejriwal congratulated Malik on his victory, stating, “I commend AAP’s Doda candidate Mehraj Malik for his remarkable win over the BJP candidate. You conducted a great campaign,” he wrote on X in Hindi.
