Delhi Elections: Interesting Battle Ahead
November 27, 2014
The momentum for Assembly elections is gradually picking up in Delhi where the battle of ballots for electing its 70-member Assembly is likely to be waged in February 2015. Most of the election issues are back again. However, the backdrop has drastically changed this time. Instead of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, now it is the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the saddle at the Centre.
Major Issues in the 2013 Assembly Elections in Delhi
In last year’s elections to the Delhi Assembly, the debutant Aam Aadmi Party had sprung a surprise by winning 28 of the total 70 seats, under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal. It fought the election on the plank of corruption and the highpoint of its campaign was the promise to provide free water and bring down the power tariff.
The issues for the Bharatiya Janata Party were no different as the party too promised 30 per cent reduction in power tariffs, besides controlling soaring vegetable prices, promising full statehood for Delhi, and regularising unauthorised colonies. Besides, the BJP had also promised mono-rail, health insurance for all, in its poll manifesto.
The Congress had then unsuccessfully sought to showcase the development during its 15-year rule in the city state. What cost the Congress its government in Delhi was also the burning issue of women’s security in the wake of a spurt in rape cases in the national capital. The AAP now trumpets being the first political party to implement the “Vishakha Guidelines” (for cases of sexual harassment) when it was in government in Delhi for 49 days.
Modi Factor may Override other issues in the 2015 Delhi Assembly Elections
Riding high on the ‘Modi fever’ that fetched victories for the BJP not just in the general elections, but also in the state Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, the BJP hopes its lucky mascot Narendra Modi could well clinch all issues in its favour, single-handedly. The “Good Governance” promise of Prime Minister Modi, therefore, is being projected as the single most important issue that overrides all other concerns by the BJP this time.
The Lotus also hopes to benefit from a decision of Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung to allow farmers to sell their produce directly to end users without routing them through the APMC markets. This, the party believes, could puncture the AAP’s “dole-oriented socialism”.
BJP cannot Treat AAP and Congress Lightly
Yet the BJP acknowledges the need for a larger issue-based strategy to counter its perceptibly main rival, the AAP, in the ensuing elections. While it matches AAP word by word on the issue of providing a ‘transparent’ government, it has been mulling on water and power issues – the major planks of almost all political parties in Delhi in the past.
The hike in power tariff by up to seven per cent just on the eve of the impending elections provides enough fodder to the Opposition’ cannons with both the Congress and the AAP, slamming the BJP for the hike even as a rattled BJP promises to take up the issue with the Union Power minister.
Sheila Dikshit still matters for Congress
This perhaps was just the kind of issue that a beleaguered Congress was looking forward to, to regain its lost space in the Delhi politics. A major issue for the party of late has been to re-strengthen its local leadership which was dwarfed by the presence of the powerful Sheila Dikshit. Yet, Dikshit remains the Hobson’s choice for the party as its campaign has to be built around its achievements during the 15 years of Dikshit’s rule.
Price rise as well as law and order have seemingly emerged as evergreen election issues, not just in Delhi but throughout the country. In Delhi too, this time it is the Congress and the AAP which would use them as tools against the ruling NDA at the Centre.
The Congress also rakes up the issue of the recent communal flare-ups in Trilokpuri and Bwana localities to target the BJP. It has referred to these flare-ups along communal lines to the BJP’s attempts to polarise voters.
The party also seeks to counter the Kejriwal factor on grounds that despite the Congress support to the AAP government, “he ran away to fulfil his national ambitions”.
AAP Trumpeting its Achievements of its Short-lived Rule
As for the AAP, already the party has put up billboards showcasing the ‘achievements’ of its 49-day rule in the city state. Even as the party is likely to bank again on issues such as corruption, free water, cheaper electricity, it has taken a leaf out of Modi’s promise of providing ‘world class cities’ by promising to make Delhi not just “a world-class city” but also the first ‘corruption-free state’ in the country.
Caste factor too remains an important election issue. It is interesting that the AAP’s process of deciding upon jhaadoo (broom) as the party’s symbol was based on a study that the Valmikis, traditionally working as sweepers, were the most neglected segment of Delhi society even though they had considerable influence in certain Assembly constituencies. This was the vote bank to be tapped and hence, broom as the symbol! Besides, the AAP also seeks to focus on the issues of the slum dwellers – including the Valmikis – who account for about a fifth of the total voters in Delhi. They are often harassed by the police and Kejriwal’s antics against the police could well have an appeal among the slum dwellers.
However, with Modi too wielding the broom for a ‘swachh bharat’, can he take the wind out of the AAP’s sails in Delhi in the elections? But he also has to confront the Congress which hopes the “neglect” of Delhi by the BJP regime at the Centre will clinch the issue in its favour. Can we term this as “hoping against the hope”? Wait till the elections.
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