Just 3 days before the Delhi elections, Delhiwallahas’ mood is swinging. There is huge uncertainty among Delhi voters. There doesn’t seem to be clarity as who is the leading political force in Delhi. BJP with all the Parliamentarians, Union Ministers and RSS cadre is trying to ensure that the Modi and Hindutva wave prevails in the country. On the other hand, the volunteers of Aam Aadmi Party have taken campaigning to a different level altogether which the city of Delhi has not witnessed in a long time. AAP volunteers have claimed the streets of Delhi like never before. Whereas BJP cadre is using the age old way of campaigning by simply asking people to “Please vote and support Modi”, AAP volunteers are engaging in discussions and using handmade placards for campaigning. Delhi Connaught Place has seen the biggest campaigning in a long while.
“It is quite certain that AAP is coming to power. Delhi will vote for change this time. It’s been more than 7 months of Modi Sarkar, and we have not seen any change in India. But in less than 2 months Kejriwal offered change.” Moksh Pasricha, one of the volunteers for AAP, who was campaigning for AAP said.
“I have always voted for Modi, but this time it is Kejriwal who is gaining the momentum in Delhi. I may vote for AAP this time,” Ramesh Agrawal, who works for an NGO in Delhi, said.
Senior journalist Ravish Kumar shared his analysis on Facebook. He wrote that Lok Sabha campaigning by BJP was near perfect. We never heard of a single flaw there. But Delhi campaigning by BJP is full of flaws – the latest being referring to people of North-Eastern states of India as immigrants. Ravish does not say, but AAP may gain from these flaws. Ravish’s analysis also bring us to another perspective that there is a threat to never questioned Modi wave in Delhi.
“I am not ready to accept a strict police person as my Chief Minister. There is Delhi police already for that. I want somebody who understands the problems of people, and sympathise with them. Kiran Bedi cannot do that. People are afraid of her. Nobody is afraid of Kejriwal.” Ramesh Agrawal added further.
“Who is winning in this area?” I asked a daily wage worker in the area of Connaught Place. He promptly replied “Keriwal himself is fighting from here. How can somebody else win!” This came as a surprise as Kejriwal is just one election old in Delhi, but people have accepted him as the obvious choice for Delhi’s New Delhi constituency.
“BJP may manipulate votes. There have been such instances in the past. We have heard about it in Banaras. That is the only fear AAP has,” Moksh Pasricha shared.
When asked similar question relating to vote manipulation to a BJP supporter in the same area, there was a counter to the AAP supporter’s point of view. He said, “Elections are conducted by Election Commission, which is the most respected body in India. It is very difficult to manipulate votes in the information age. Kejriwal and supporters will again have the same baseless allegations on BJP after they lose the elections.”
All the parties will end campaigning 48 hours before the polls. As the campaigning hour comes to near end in just a day, everybody is as excited as witnessing cricket’s world cup finale match. Everybody on the streets is asking each other, “Who will win this time?”
This article was first published on LokMarg.com on February 4, 2015
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This article was first published on LokMarg.com on February 4, 2015
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