Now, all eyes on Delhi polls
Sakal Times Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Saturday, 8 November 2014 AT 01:10 PM IST
Delhi state assembly, Delhi polls, Jammu and Kashmir, BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Camil Parkhe, blog
Finally, elections to Delhi state assembly will be held soon. The state assembly which was in suspended animation for the past over seven months has been dissolved, much to the chagrin of the BJP which had been avoiding the fresh polls under some or the other pretext. Although the elections to the Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand will be held prior to Delhi polls, the elections in the national capital are of more vital importance due to obvious reasons.The three major political powers in Delhi- the BJP, Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party- are already preparing for the state polls even before the declaration of the election schedule. It is clear that the poll campaign in this tiny state will be keenly watched by political observers and also people in the rest parts of the country.
Soon after formation of the Delhi state, the BJP had formed the first government in the new state. But the party gave three chief ministers to the new state, Madan Lal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma and Sushma Swaraj in a short period of 1993 to 1998. Swaraj who quit her Union minister's post to be the chief minister to lead her party's poll campaign lost the state elections, thanks to the high prices of onions in Delhi at that time.
Sheila Dixit of the Congress wrested the power in 1998 and retained it for a record 15 years. The 49-day regime of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal following the hung assembly in December 2013 elections and subsequent political incidents are too fresh events to forget. The question now is which of the three main political players will emerge the winner in the forthcoming Delhi poll battle.
The hesitation of the BJP government at the Centre to hold fresh polls and thus end political uncertainty in the state – even after its impressive show of winning all six Lok Sabha seats in Delhi- was clear indication of the party's lack of confidence in winning the assembly polls.
On the other hand, the AAP which was humiliated in the parliamentary polls has been working overtime to do well in the state polls. The Congress has its organisational network which may help the party in wooing its traditional votes. The BJP will again have to harp on the Narendra Modi magic to wrest power in this politically most important state. The warm-up to the Delhi elections has just began and it promises to offer an interesting poll battle.
