New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has pulled into a commanding lead (58) in counting trends. The BJP is left with around 13-14 seats in a 70-member assembly. The Congress may draw a blank, and its leaders are speaking out.
Though Delhi elections are normally three-way contests, the one held on February 8 was largely seen as a face-off between the AAP and the BJP. Arvind Kejriwal — who will be chief minister for a third time if he wins — touted himself as a good governance man, promised doorstep delivery of rations and offered spoken English classes and a patriotism curriculum to school students. His campaign slogan told voters, “Acche beete paanch saal” — five years have gone by “well”.
The BJP, on the other hand, didn’t declare a prospective chief minister (a detail the AAP tried repeatedly to drum into voters’ minds, in an appearent attempt to make the contest ‘presidential’) and its pledges included a subsidy on wheat flour and increased spending on health and education. The party was last in power in Delhi in the 1990s.