PrintFriendlyMany pollsters had predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s win in the recent Assembly polls was a foregone conclusion. Therefore, when one thinks of the BJP’s subsequent grand victory, one can’t but think of several issues and factors that played a key role. But the first and the most important of them all was the party’s total commitment to the welfare of the people even though it was out of power for about two decades in the national capital. And, the fact that the party that rules Delhi, the heart and the political centre of the country, is greatly significant for any party. I would say that Delhi is a mini-India, and as such, a political party in power in the state is ‘ruling a mini-India’, and that has a lot to play with the psyche and the emotions of the people of the country.
It is important to understand why the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had to have a crushing defeat with only 22 seats in its kitty as compared to the 67 seats in the previous election. The foremost reason was that the party wasted most of the last five years’ term more in fighting with the Central government and less in doing what they were supposed to do once elected with a big majority. And, the fact that most of its top leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, the former Chief Minister, had to spend the last year of their term before the elections, in jail, had a heavy bearing on the outcome of the election.
One big point of public discussion was on the estimated Rs 45-crore ‘Sheesh Mahal’ that the former CM built to live in, much to the chagrin and wrath of the public and the opposition parties. What a change from his earlier image of an Aam Admi — humble and fully grounded to be seen as working with the man on the street. Remember the days when he first came into power 10 years ago. He had very clearly and pointedly made it be known to all that his sole aim and objective would be to give a clean, dynamic and fully-functioning government; and that one of his top priorities would be to root out corruption not only from the administration but at the government level too. The Delhiites believed him and gave him one more term so that they could see that Kejriwal could fulfil his promises of making Delhi the No.1 state in terms of governance and progress.
Alas, that he did not and could not do, and the Delhi janta gave him a crushing and a deep-sounding defeat. As if that was not enough, he himself too had to face humiliation as voters booted him out.
Kejriwal had forgotten that he could not make the discerning people of the national capital ‘wait forever’ with no sign of any improvement in the affairs of the city’s overall wellbeing. The phrase that ‘people can’t be befooled all the time’ fits quite well in this case; and one hopes that onece a ‘hero’ of the Aam Aadmi realises this biting fact.
Similarly, one can’t skip and ignore the Congress party that had to eat a humble pie with a big zero in the Assembly election. Even in the previous Assembly election in 2020, the party had a ‘swept away’ outcome. The party’s inside bickering, and the lack of a good and an effective leader has been at the root-cause of its ‘failing and falling’ trend.
What worked for the BJP? It is not just a few factors that made the wind blow in favour of the BJP. My understanding is that the overall standing of the party in the country and the Prime Minister’s dynamic leadership did a huge impact on the minds and the hearts of the people. They could understand that only a party, united and solid, like the BJP’s under Narendra Modi could lead them to the path of peace, prosperity and progress. They found such ‘abilities’ either disappearing or missing in other parties.
But then when we come to the basic things that did the trick for the BJP, we get to know of several factors: The party got quite earnest quite early, much before even the polls were announced. Its three months of sustained and heated campaign, including by its top leaders, did bring about dents in the belts of the incumbent. The AAP’s ‘noisy chatter’ sans any substantial contribution to the people of the state only led to the people’s frustration and they started crying horse to seek justice.
The ’Sheesh Mahal’ that the previous CM got built up for himself by spending Rs 45-crore public funds too might have proved a deadly killer for the AAP and its leader. The vows of honest, simplicity and a corruption-free govt and administration seemed to have ‘gone with the wind’. And here was a party whose top leaders had to spend their months and years in jail before the polls.
And the fact that different party governments at the Centre and states, particularly in Delhi, is no good for good administration and progress came to be understood by the voters. The people of Delhi had learnt so many lessons from the fighting and the quarrels in the last 10 years that they, this time, perhaps made it a point to say: Enough is enough, we want the same party in the Centre as well as at the state for the good of all and overall progress.
The BJP also aired the ‘double-engine’ government possibility, and said that alone could have the panacea for the ills of the Delhiites. And the people seemed to have quite got it right.
In other words, one can say from what one had seen and observed before the polls that the BJP was indeed able to convince the people of the state that they had no option but to go for it if they wanted to see their dreams flowering up in the days and months to come.
Kejriwal: Both the rise and fall of Arvind Kejriwal have been quite quick and sudden. Here was a man who had joined politics to save politics and to give a clean and dynamic administration for the overall wellbeing of the Aam Aadmi. His was a vow to root out corruption among politicians and in the administration. Did he, really? A big No. He himself got caught into the web of corruption and had to go to jail. Having emerged out of a movement some 12 years ago, Kejriwal struggled for a few years to implement wat he wanted to, but in his second term, he seemed to have lost his noble objectives and started losing sight of his targets.
It was quite clear that the momentum and the success of his movement, and his goal-based targets seemed to be going out of his mind and action. A birdie says, towards the last few years of Kejriwal, he had become more of a competitor with other parties than going ahead with his initial objectives. So much so that his ideological uniqueness and other parameters that had brought his party into Delhi’s ‘political play’, could be seen nowhere in him or in his party. And, as an observer had to say: “His Aam Aadmi and the Aam Story’ had gone with the wind, as it were. As another friend says, we had great expectations from the ‘street fighter’ but he left us all in lurch all because of his change-over of mindset that cared more for himself and less for the public.
Congress: The Congress party too had to have a crushing defeated, thereby going in for a hat-trick of falls since the 1915, 1920 Assembly elections. Most of their candidates lost their deposits too. The fact that their candidates get defeated year after year with no wins at all, it is time they look within as to see what really has gone wrong. They should know and understand well that nothing goes wrong until you do something wrong.
True, the Congress managed to improve its vote margin slightly higher to 6 pc from the previous 4 pc, but it lost, like last time, in all the 70 seats. And that compels one to ask about its future. Some poll Pandits say that the Congress has suffered all through because of its ‘poll alliance’ with the AAP in the Lok Sabha polls despite stiff resistance of the state party cadre. It is quite ironic that the party, despite a complete route, seems to be happy in ‘voicing victory’ over the AAP’s defeat!
Having said all that, we are still left with a crucial point that is going to be very pertinent for the BJP. Winning or losing Delhi means you are winning or losing a mini-India. And those who win it get their confidence built up many times for the upcoming polls, for instance in Bihar. Now, with the Delhi pick in their pocket, they can very well go to the Bihar plains with great confidence and assurances. Even the people there maybe quite receptive for the BJP in an unprecedented manner.
As they say, luck favours the brave. The Delhi win has not only built up the BJP’s confidence but has also made them brave enough to deal with any circumstances that could come in their way. And, recall the BJP’s big and unprecedented budget allocations to Bihar recently, in two series. That takes them nearer and dearer to the Bihar voters. With that one can say comfortably and reasonably that the rest of the parties may now find it quite very tough to fight and win in the coming polls.
Another feather in the BJP’s cap this time, while going to the Bihar polls, is that it has, for the first time, its own party at the Centre as well as in Delhi and its adjoining states. That makes the party all the more invincible.
As such, one sees no way but the BJP all the way in the months and years to come. But a firm reminder is a must that the party having given so many poll promises must stand firm by them and then implement them all, one by one, so that the anguished Delhiites get to have a sigh of relief and see a good reason for a brighter future in the coming years.
People have great hopes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. And one hopes that they too will live up to see the masses bear a smiling face. Such a scenario can come about only when the poll promises are strictly and honestly implemented.
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(The views expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the position of the organisation)
