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Delhi Elections today: As Delhi votes in assembly elections, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stands at a crucial juncture since its inception about thirteen years ago.
With two consecutive terms and a 49-day Congress-backed government under its belt, the AAP is seeking to score a hat-trick of victories in the assembly elections in the national capital. Today's contest is seen as a three-cornered fight – the two other parties in the fray being the Congress and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
Born out of an anti-corruption movement, the AAP fought its first election in 2013. The then fledgling political outfit ended the 15-year-long rule of the Congress party led by the late Sheila Dikshit. Kejriwal became the chief minister with the support of the Congress party. He resigned 49 days later. The AAP, however, won assembly elections in the national capital in 2015 and 2020 even more comfortably.
Arvind Kejriwal, who resigned as Chief Minister of Delhi in September last year, is AAP's biggest face. No other party has a leader as prominent as Kejriwal in Delhi.
Over the years, his at-odds relationship with the Centre and Centre's appointee Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi has transformed him into what his supporters call a ‘symbol of defiance’ against the established political parties.
The AAP won 67 seats in the 70-member Delhi assembly in 2015. It won 62 seats in the 2020 elections. The party has a presence across Delhi and a strong volunteer-based cadre. In 20020, the AAP won a 53.57 per cent voter share in the assembly elections.
The AAP flagship schemes, including subsidies on electricity and drinking water, revamped government schools, Mohalla clinics, and free electricity, comprise what is known as the ‘Delhi Model’ of governance.
Though its rivals dismiss the schemes as ‘unsustainable’ and ‘populist,’ the Congress and the BJP have promised not to discontinue them if AAP loses this time.
Families in Delhi saved about ₹2,464 per month due to the combined policies of the AAP government, a new book “The Delhi Model: A Bold New Road Map to Building a Developed India” by senior AAP leader Jasmine Shah revealed
“A household sample survey among 70 per cent of Delhi's households receiving full electricity subsidy revealed that families saved an average ₹2,464 per month due to the combined policies of the AAP government,” reads the book published by Penguin Random House India.
Over 40 lakh households benefit from free electricity and water every month. Improved connectivity has been achieved through the construction of new roads, flyovers, and free bus rides for women.
AAP has used ‘Arvind Kejriwal vs Who’ in assembly polls as its poll plank with posters put up across the national capital. Both the Congress and the BJP have not announced any CM face, while Kejriwal remains AAP's first choice.
AAP has also extended its schemes by promising free healthcare for the elderly, ₹10lakh insurance for auto drivers and ₹18,000 for Hindu and Sikh priests if it comes to power in Delhi again.
The AAP has roped in the political consultancy group I-PAC for the upcoming polls. The group, founded by poll strategist Prashant Kishor, also helped AAP register a landslide victory in the Delhi assembly polls in 2020.
In the last ten years, AAP emerged as what many call the ‘fastest-growing' political startup in the country. The AAP won the 2022 assembly elections in Punjab too. It has a presence beyond Delhi and Punjab, in other states, too, earning it a national party status in 2022.
Through initiatives like ‘Rewdi par Charcha’, the AAP is reaching out to every household and reiterating its achievements and plans. This direct engagement with voters strengthens its grassroots connection.
The biggest challenge the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP faces is the ten-year anti-incumbency. After two consecutive terms, some voters may seek change, believing that a new leadership could effectively address the pending governance issues.
Also, the upcoming election is being labelled as the ‘toughest’ fight for AAP, especially after the crisis it faced in the last two years with almost the entire top leadership finding itself in the middle of investigations by central investigation agencies over corruption allegations, mostly around the alleged Delhi Liquor Policy scam.
Leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and Satyendar Jain, were arrested, jailed and eventually released on bail, raising questions about the AAP's ‘anti-corrupt and clean' image. BJP state unit chief Virendra Sachdeva called the AAP dispensation in Delhi the government of ‘criminals on bail.’
Despite maintaining a steady 30 per cent vote vote share in the national capital, the BJP has not won a single assembly election in Delhi since 1998.
The BJP is making all-out attempts to come back to power in Delhi after 27 years, focusing on its slogan “parivartan” (change) and a targeted campaign against the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP over corruption allegations during its ten-year rule.
Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the saffron party has launched a scathing attack on AAP, labelling its rule 'AAP-da', which translates to ‘disaster.’ Modi, in two speeches so far, highlighted the alleged ‘lavish spending’ in the construction of Arvind Kejriwal's 6 Flagstaff Road residence—'Sheesh Mahal'—when he was chief minister before stepping down in September last year.
Clearly, the AAP faces an inevitable encounter with the full weight of the BJP’s ‘political machinery.’ Will the AAP continue its winning streak and score a hat-trick on February 8, when the results will be announced?
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