Electorate delivers yet another decisive mandate
Coming after years of coalition govts, experts say this is a significant shift in the behaviour of voters
New Delhi: The Delhi election results on Tuesday was the fifth in a row since the Lok Sabha elections in April-May last year where the electorate has given a decisive mandate.
Coming after years of coalition governments, experts believe that this is a significant shift in the behaviour of voters, who, like the new demography of India, are overwhelmingly young.
Experts feel that the historic mandate in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which won 67 out of the 70 seats in the Delhi assembly, gives a clear indication that the national capital has returned to a two-party system where voters elect a party hoping it would meet the expectations of the people.
Beginning with Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir, voters have restored their faith in the two-party system. The Delhi assembly results on Tuesday saw only the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) make it to the seat tally.
The election verdict also marks the worst-ever performance of the BJP in Delhi where it won only three seats and where it has continued to be out of power since 1998.
Having given a strong performance in the general election in Delhi, where it won in all seven parliamentary seats or 60 of the 70 assembly segments, the BJP was hoping to regain power in the state.
“Delhi has returned to the two-party system. It is the wisdom of the people who have clearly stated that this is not a vote for centre but for state government. At the state level, the vote is for AAP and Arvind Kejriwal. During the Lok Sabha elections also, it was clear that people wanted Narendra Modi as the prime minister and Arvind Kejriwal as the chief minister of Delhi,”said Sandeep Shastri, a political analyst.
This is the worst electoral performance for the BJP in 43 years in Delhi.
Its previous low was during the days of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the earlier version of the BJP. It won only five seats in the Delhi assembly in 1951 and 1972.
BJP leaders believe that the party suffered in the elections because voters wanted quick results and expected the party to deliver on its promises made in the Lok Sabha elections immediately.
While the BJP gained in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand because of anti-incumbency waves, it was the BJP that faced a similar situation in Delhi following nine months of BJP rule at the Centre, and Kejriwal was able to capture the imagination of voters.
“The assembly results show that cynicism is increasing among the people of Delhi and they are not ready to wait. People want immediate results. People are not ready to wait for the transformation of promises into results. There is a need for the people to be more patient,” said a senior BJP leader who played crucial role in strategizing for the party.
Senior BJP leaders admit that the verdict is a clear message for the party that the government shouldn’t deviate from the message of development and it should also not allow fringe elements to hijack the “good governance” agenda of the party, a plank which Prime Minister Narendra Modi successfully projected in his Lok Sabha campaign.
Members of the saffron party also pointed out that the Delhi results are a reminder for the party that it should not become arrogant just because it is winning elections.
However, the key takeaway from Tuesday’s results was the re-emergence of the AAP in Delhi with a decisive mandate not just in terms of seats but also a vote share of 54.30%.
The party, which stepped down from government after a brief tenure of 49 days a year ago, had faced the displeasure of the middle class over its so called “street politics”.
The AAP ran a spirited campaign involving ground-level volunteers and based it on entitlement promises, anti-corruption and women’s safety.
A record turnout of 67.08% in the state and an eye on the economically lower classes also helped the party leverage support in its favour.
“This is an absolutely historic mandate. To lose like this in the national capital within eight months of coming to power, using the entire might of the government and the booth-level mobilization of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) is significant,” said Zoya Hasan, a New Delhi-based political analyst. “It’s a vote against Modi and the disenchantment of the voters in its failure to deliver on the poll promises,” she added.
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First Published:11 Feb 2015, 12:18 AM IST
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