David Kejri stuns Goliath Modi

New Delhi: The new entrant on to the political arena, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), had to take on the Congress, the oldest political outfit in the country, and BJP, which made its strong presence in the General Election of 1952 under Jan Sangh. The Delhi Assembly election results emphatically demonstrate the people’s faith in Arvind Kejriwal the founder of AAP who led his party to a stupendous victory (67/70), a victory that had to be accepted by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi the mascot of BJP in the elections. What the election results demonstrate?

Firstly, the Modi wave which began in General Election 2014 and continued on until the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir had come to a screeching halt. The Modi wave is vapourized. The Delhi voters overwhelming voted against the BJP, and demonstrated their faith in Kejriwal, who strikes a chord with common people.

The electoral machinery and political paraphernalia which the BJP had at its disposal was unmatchable to AAP, yet the people chose AAP. BJP’s blistering campaign in the streets and on airwaves of Delhi had cloyed the voters, and there was no need for Modi in his rallies to invoke the US President Barack Obama’s visit to India as a success!

Secondly, the authority which Modi and BJP President Amit Shah enjoyed will start to diminish hereafter unless they employ their political onus. The Delhi unit of the BJP resented the choice of the party’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi who was not a member of the party until she joined BJP just before the polls which had piqued the local leaders.

Hereafter Modi-Shah’s decision will be questioned unless they change their tact and pay attention to their regional satraps. They are reduced to pips before Modi-Shah duo, now they will remind them about their power in their fiefdoms. Thirdly, not only the BJP leaders who are gloating over the AAP’s victory but also the BJP’s allies particularly Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal with whom the BJP behaved ruthlessly and recklessly.

And, there are others who are just watching like TDP – what would it mean to TDP when Amit Shah announced that the BJP had to enroll 45 lakh members for the party in Andhra Pradesh? Finally, the Congress has lost very badly like it did in 2014 General Election but it can take solace in AAP’s victory. Prime Minister Modi would have realized that he cannot summon a victory by being the sole campaigner of the party but he ought to encourage and promote local leaders by mentoring the epithets of developmental agenda, and also condemn the Sangh Parivar’s acts such as ‘ghar wapsi’.

Modi beware! And, Kejriwal proved that saying ‘sorry’ for the mistake of resigning as the Chief Minister in 2014 was not correct but people accepted his apology. The Delhi voters reaffirmed their faith in his AAP to fight for their grievances, and address their basic needs: electricity, drinking water, housing and education. Perhaps this could be the beginning for Kejriwal to make a pan-India impact by proving himself in Delhi, and he has a reason to be scared with such a mandate!

By:K G Reddy