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I, me, myself Modi denting BJP image
What the Delhi poll outcome has confirmed is that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can be stopped in its tracks by a determined opponent, even one not as well-entrenched as established regional parties like the AIADMK, the Biju Janata Dal or the Trinamool Congress were in their respective states in last year\'s general election.
What the Delhi poll outcome has confirmed is that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can be stopped in its tracks by a determined opponent, even one not as well-entrenched as established regional parties like the AIADMK, the Biju Janata Dal or the Trinamool Congress were in their respective states in last year's general election. In contrast to what happened in Tamil Nadu and the two other states, the BJP has been routed in Delhi by an adversary like the Aam Admi Party (AAP) which entered the fray with a lot of baggage - its hasty departure after 49 days in power in the capital last year, the boastful assertion of anarchist tendencies by its leader Arvind Kejriwal, and an economic outlook which ranged from being "Left of Left" to a claim of being sensitive to the concerns of traders since Kejriwal harked back to his 'bania' (trading community) background.
Understandably, the BJP made full use of these deficiencies with Narendra Modi urging the AAP leader to join the Naxalites (Maoists) in the jungles since he is a self-proclaimed anarchist. Earlier, the prime minister had stressed the same point by designating Kejriwal as AK-49, the automatic rifle that is a favourite of insurgents.
To buttress Modi's offensive, the BJP threw in nearly all its central ministers, headed by Arun Jaitley, and as many as 120 MPs into the campaign, a classic case of a sledgehammer being used to swat a seeming fly.
But the reason why none of it helped the ruling party at the centre will be palpable to any discerning observer.
By: Amulya Ganguli
