Jubilee Post News & Views
Vivek Avasthi
The battle ground is all set for elections to the 70-odd seats of Mini India or the Capital of the country – Delhi. Locking horns are three players – the ruling Aam Aadmi party, the party ruling India or the Bhartiya Janata
Party and the Indian National Congress.
But Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by the present Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal, seems to have a clear edge over its other two rivals. Voting is to be held on February 8 and counting is scheduled for February 11.
A recent opinion poll conducted by CVoter puts Arvind Kejriwal and his party clearly in the saddle of the leader in these elections. It indicates that AAP would get 53.3 per cent of votes and end up with about 59 seats, while the BJP with 25.9 per cent of votes will get just eight seats.
The Congress is likely to get only 4.9 per cent of the votes polled and remain content with just three seats. In the last elections in 2015, AAP had won 67 seats, the BJP 03 and the Congress could not open its
account.
According to the survey, 69.5 percent respondents said that Kejriwal is their chief ministerial choice. His closest competitor is Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, way behind at 10.7 percent. The next in line is Congress leader Ajay Maken, at 7.1 percent.
The poll says that only one percent voters preferred Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari as the next Chief Minister. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Subhash Chopra lags even behind Tiwari as only 0.2 percent of voters
choose him as their CM candidate.
Why No Anti-Incumbency Against Kejriwal and AAP?
Political Pundits may be bemused as to why there seems to be no anti- incumbency against Kejriwal and his AAP but there are several reasons attached to this. Kejriwal is a much mature politician today as earlier he acted as an activist and now, he has transformed himself into a leader and that too of the masses. He has stopped his hit and run policy of making accusations against one political rival and then others. He has
over the years concentrated on his work and Delhi.
His political dole of free ‘bijli-paani’ has worked wonders amongst the masses of Delhi making him a popular leader with the lower and lower middle classes of the Capital. His Mohalla Clinics and betterment of education in schools of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) seems to have worked wonders. Apart from this, he has maintained an
unblemished image of a honest and clean politician and there has not been any charge of corruption against him on personal basis.
The three wings of the city’s civic bodies – the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation are all ruled by the BJP. As these three bodies are responsible for lifting garbage from their respective areas, whenever there is a strike in these departments and the city stinks with unattended garbage, the blame goes straight on the BJP rather than AAP.
Moreover, as Delhi does not have the status of a full-fledged state, the Delhi Police and the Delhi Development Authority also fall under the purview of the Central Government. And this is the reason that the Kejriwal government is not blamed for any law and order problem arising in Delhi.
Problems Galore within the Delhi BJP
Problems within the Delhi BJP are aplenty. The biggest issue is that of leadership. It is an open secret that two tall leaders of the party – Delhi President Manoj Tiwari and veteran leader Vijay Goel do not go well together. Another big name of the party in Delhi politics, Dr. Harshvardhan does not seem to be interested in the politics of Delhi any
more and is happy as a minister in the Narendra Modi government.
Another major factor which goes against the party is that it is yet to decide and name its chief ministerial candidate and seems to be more interested in seeking votes in the name and face of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. BJP has been out of power in Delhi for over 21 years now as late Sushma Swaraj was the last BJP Chief Minister till December 3, 1998.
What Ails the Congress in Delhi?
Leadership is one issue which has been a major problem area for the Congress both on national level and in Delhi. 72-year-old veteran Congressman Subhash Chopra has been virtually called out of retirement and has been made President of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee. Chopra won his last election from Kalkaji seat in 2008.
There were plenty of better choices before the party. Haroon Yusuf, Arvinder Singh Lovely, Ajay Maken are few names which could have been better than this choice keeping in mind their age and connect with
the party workers and voters of Delhi.
Keeping in mind all three parties as major contestants of Delhi elections, it seems that the Aam Aadmi Party has come of the block faster than any one with its slogan of “Acche Beete Paanch Saal – Lage Raho Kejriwal”. Bollywood music composer and AAP sympathizer Vishal Dadlani has even composed a 2 minute 52 second song featuring Arvind Kejriwal on these lines. The BJP and Congress are yet to respond to Aam Aadmi Party on this front.
(The writer is a senior journalist)
