New Delhi: In an inglorious end to its Delhi election campaign, the Bharatiya Janata Party has not only been decimated by the Aam Aadmi Party but its chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi, too, lost for the party's safest seat Krishna Nagar in East Delhi.
Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP wielded the broom with such a devastating effect that not only the Congress, already on the downslide, but even the highly charged BJP failed to counter the two-year-old party failing to win even 10% of the seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. Bedi lost to AAP candidate SK Bagga in Krishna Nagar by 2,277 votes. The seat had been represented in Delhi Assembly by Union Minister and senior BJP leader Harsh Vardhan since 1993.
Many senior BJP leaders Jagdish Mukhi (Janakpuri), Krishna Tirath (Patel Nagar), MS Dhir (Jangpura) lost from their seats badly.
While the BJP witnessed its worst ever performance in the polls winning just three seats, in yet another humiliation for Congress the party failed to even open its account with its top face in Delhi, Ajay Maken, ending third from the Sadar Bazar seat in central Delhi.
But the bigger shock was BJP's near annihilation as the party was confident of riding high in Delhi too following the landslide victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and consecutive wins in the Assembly elections in four states.
The high voltage campaign of the BJP wherein 120 MPS, over 20 Central Ministers and chief ministers of many states were roped in to target the AAP and particularly Kejriwal failed to woo the voters and instead back-fired on the party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also entered the battlefield and addressed five rallies across the national capital but still failed to turn around his party's fortunes.
Modi, who addressed his first rally in the national capital on January 10 at Ramlila Maidan, two days before the poll date was announced. The poorly attended rally with only about 15,000 people attending it showed that all was not right within the party's Delhi unit.
Pitching for a BJP government in the national capital, Modi hit out at Kejriwal saying, "Those who are masters in holding dharnas, protests, blocking roads should be given that task. Right work should be given to the right people."
Without naming Kejriwal or his party, Modi said if the AAP leader wants to be an anarchist, as claimed by him, he should go to jungles and join Naxals. "Delhi cannot have anarchy. We not only need to save Delhi but need to develop it too."
The rally kickstarted the negative campaigning of the BJP and it multiplied as electioneering picked up. The BJP started a series of asking 35 questions to Kejriwal on U-turns made by him on his poll promises and targeting him for leaving the government in 49 days.
But the people did not fall into BJP's traps and even the four rallies addressed by Modi in a week before elections saw poor turnout telling the mood of the people and the strong anti-BJP sentiment in Delhi.
On the other hand, the AAP's campaign was more mature focusing on local issues like water, electricity, corruption, price rise, women security and not getting involved in any back bitching.
Kejriwal fared badly when he made his political debut on the national platform in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as he contested against Modi from Varanasi seat. And he used all his energy and resources to claim success in Delhi by working on the ground level for last six months. His hard work and BJP's decision not to hold polls in Delhi soon after general elections gave him ample time to regroup the party and gave his massive mandate.
The BJP, however, failed to read the mood of the people for whom not the startling allegations but basic necessities matter the most. The party's inability to fulfill its tall promises made during the Lok Sabha elections campaign on black money, 'ache din aaenge' (good days ahead), price rise cost the party dearly.
Seeing the mood of the people deflected towards AAP, BJP President Amit Shah inducted former IPS officer Kiran Bedi to take on Kejriwal but the plan.
The coming in of new faces, sidelining of old-timers and declining them ticket resulted in the infighting within the party. The situation turned worse as party workers carried out protest outside the party office and some of them contested as Independents leading to division of votes.
Not witnessing much work done by the Narendra Modi government on development front and the growing corruption in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, inflated water and electricity bills, people showed their anger by voting against the BJP in Delhi polls and reducing them to single digit figure in the Delhi Assembly.
Modi also failed to control his own MPs who were allegedly forcing people to convert into Hinduism across the country and calling it 'Ghar Wapsi'. He also failed to curb attacks on churches hurting the sentiment of Christians and was even slammed by US President Barack Obama on the issue. It resulted in the alienation of some voters.
The party tried to give communal colour to the election by targeting Kejriwal after Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari said Muslims should support AAP. Even though AAP rejected Bukhari's appeal, the BJP called it 'fatwa politics'.
Lastly, the AAP managed to win the perception battle by being on ground and striking a chord with 'aam aadmi' as against BJP's Modi. The Rs 10 lakh suit wore by the Prime Minister during Obama's visit raised many fingers as people demanded answers on black money. Kejriwal's 'aam aadmi' image wearing a muffler gave more assurance to people that he will work for them.
The 49-day government of AAP changed the lives of many as water and electricity bills were reduced, corruption came down and people stretched their arms to given the party another chance and relive those golden days.
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