Jubilee Post News & Views
By Vivek Avasthi
Two-time chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal is probably not going to get a cakewalk from New Delhi constituency. Kejriwal had emerged as a giant killer from his first election from the same constituency when he defeated three-time chief minister Sheila Dixit in 2013. The BJP is contemplating of fielding Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of late Sushma Swaraj, former union minister and also former Delhi chief minister for a brief period in 1998.
Bansuri Swaraj (35), born and brought up in Delhi, has done her graduation from Oxford University and attained Barrister from Inner Temple, London. She is a practicing lawyer in Delhi High Court and Supreme Court. Like her mother, Bansuri Swaraj is known to be a good orator with command over both Hindi and English. And if at all Bansuri Swaraj throws her hat in the ring, she could give a hard time to Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi constituency.
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The Aam Aadmi Party has been quick to come off the blocks for the 2020 elections to the 70-odd seats of Mini India or Delhi by being the first party to release the list of all of its 70 candidates.
This list of AAP has 23 new faces including Dilip Pandey, Atishi Marlena and Raghav Chaddha, the three candidates of the party who had lost out in the last Lok Sabha Elections held in 2019.
The BJP Strategy
The Bhartiya Janata Party is at the moment, holding its cards very close to its chest by not showing any hurry. The party plans to spring a surprise for its arch rival, the Aam Aadmi Party by announcing at least 20 big names as its candidates from Delhi. These could be known faces from various fields other than politics. Apart from Bansuri Swaraj, the party is said to have shortlisted several more faces in a bid to outdo AAP.
The party is concentrating hard on winning over the most important Punjabi-Poorvanchali combination and it knows that if it manages to do so, results would be much better for them. While its Delhi President Manoj Tiwari, who has been entrusted with the responsibility of wooing the voters from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the party is giving prominence to its Punjabi leaders. Veterans from Delhi like Vijay Kumar Malhotra are being given due importance.
The party high-command is said to have given a nod to giving a ticket to Harish Khurana, son of former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana.
Also, the party is aware that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting all 70 seats and its ally in the centre, Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) is also putting out candidates on all seats. These two parties could harm BJP’s prospects in the 12 seats reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Castes and this is also one reason that the BJP does not want to hurry with its list of candidates.
Severe Infighting Plagues Congress
The Indian National Congress, which ruled the capital of the country for fifteen years in a row under the leadership of Late Sheila Dixit, is finding itself on a very sticky ground. There is serious infighting within the party and some of its big names have simply refused to contest elections this time. The party wanted former union minister and former president of Delhi unit, Ajay Maken to contest, but he has reportedly refused citing health reasons.
Senior leaders like Dr. A.K. Walia and Naseeb Singh are unhappy as they have been told to contest from seats they did not want to. The party is already red-faced after its former MP, Mahabal Mishra’s son Vinay recently joined the Aam Aadmi Party and is contesting on its ticket. Its Delhi President Subhash Chopra is seeking a ticket for his daughter while there are many more in this list who want tickets for their sons or daughters. They themselves are reluctant to contest.
To sum up, Delhi is in all likelihood going to witness a straight fight between the BJP and AAP with the Congress already being decimated to the third spot, even before the city goes for voting on February 8, 2020.
(The writer is a senior journalist)
