The chill in the air may be diminishing but the heat of Delhi elections is starting to take its toll on Delhiites. As Arvind ‘Autocratic’ Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party locks horns with ‘panic-button’ Kiran Bedi’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the political fist-fight for government formation in Delhi is going to get intense by the minute. After all, it’s a battle between old ‘friends’ and not foes.
On the weather front, a fresh western disturbance is expected to affect Jammu and Kashmir around 7th February. But this disturbance will not affect Delhi until 8th or 9th February. As a result, there’s a very little chance of light rain in Delhi on the day of voting, that too in the later part of the day. Hence, weather will not act as a deterrent and is expected to have no effect whatsoever on the voter turnout. Voters can head out in full confidence to decide Delhi’s fate.
The upcoming Delhi Assembly elections have occupied media space and fuelled household discussions for over a month now. The battle between the two major political parties, namely the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), is being fought on a plethora of media platforms. From bombardment of Tweets to animated altercations through Facebook comments; from panoramic ads sitting above newspaper mastheads to ‘invasive’ campaign phone calls; political parties are leaving no stone unturned in reaching out to the ‘common man’. A total of 95 rallies swarmed up the length and breadth of Delhi this Sunday only. Indian National Congress (INC) too has stepped up its game and is maintaining the tag of a latent contender. But the real face-off is surely between AAP and BJP.
The political drama surrounding blame-games and the not-so-friendly banter has also heated up the battle for Delhi. While the Aam Aadmi Party has compiled a meaty manifesto with nearly 70 agendas, Narendra Modi expects voters to side with BJP on the basis of his all-pervading ‘luck’ factor. Kiran Bedi’s incompetency as an effective political orator has stung BJP’s hopes of conquering Delhi. Moreover, the fact that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been asked to supervise over the Delhi elections, further cements the fear and desperation bubbling within the party. The incessant last-minute tweaking points towards BJP’s political ‘miscarriage’ of projecting Kiran Bedi as its CM candidate. Furthermore, internal factions have developed for the first time in BJP’s Delhi unit, with most senior leaders miffed at the para-dropping of Kiran Bedi as BJP’s Delhi Chief Ministerial candidate.
Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party too has come under the scanner. BJP war rooms have prepared a ‘questionnaire’ for AAP’s National Convener Arvind Kejriwal, after ruling out the possibility of a proper debate between Kejriwal and Bedi, which was first proposed by AAP. Also, AAP candidates with criminal background are being targeted thereby questioning the party’s ‘clean’ image. The tag of being a ‘lip-service’ party only is yet to be brushed off AAP’s shoulder. In addition to all this, Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘bribe’ statement, and other controversial fragments of his speeches, have upset the Election Commission more than once now. To sum it up, road-blocks keep surfacing for AK-49 as well.
(Also Read: Delhi Too Cold To Give A Warm Embrace To AAP's Dharnas)
In layman’s terms, the 2015 Delhi Assembly Elections are all about survival. Arvind Kejriwal and his supporters are fighting for the very existence and survival of AAP. A win for AAP in Delhi, will open doors for a chance at Haryana in 2017, where the party enjoyed more than decent support during last year’s Lok Sabha elections. With INC facing an imminent and prolonged extinction from Delhi after more than a decade, BJP too is giving serious weightage to government formation in the national capital. Amit Shah realizes that 2015 may be BJP’s only shot at retrieving Delhi from the political chokehold of INC. While low –income groups and Dalits have ditched INC and found a new God in Kejriwal, the middle class may side with BJP considering the fact that the party controls the Center as well. Frankly speaking, the dreaded summer ‘heat’ may creep in a little earlier this year, and yes you can blame the assembly elections for that.
