Perhaps, it was not expected as much as it came out to be in respect of the Delhi Assembly polls,AamAdmi Party making a hat-trick and winning the prestigious elections with thumping majority by securing 62 out of 70 seats. Again, contrary to expectations, the BhartiyaJantaParty did not fare anywell and had to be content with just eight seats. Congress Party did not open its account even and on most of the seats where its candidates were in the fray had to forfeit their deposits. The performance of 2015 Assembly elections largely was replicated by the AamAdmi Party this time too. It won’t be out of place to critically analyse the nuts and bolts of this election in that it established that governance at the grass root level could be reaped by a good harvest. Besides, the new vistas of victory seemed to open for Kejriwal much ahead of the voters going to cast their votes in the sense in addition to governance at municipal levels , drains, electric poles, hospital and medicinal facilities and the like, he never lost the pulse of the commoner, the rustic and the needy on the road, street and in middle class residential colonies. For an incumbent Government, regaining power with almost the same percentage of votes is significant. Hardly does any Government get through so triumphantly in the anti incumbency factor, the other example being of Shivraj Singh Chauhan who remained CM of Madhya Pradesh from 2005 to 2018.
It is also a fact, that some developments quite unwarranted which took placeduring the last two months in some parts of Delhi, AAP played cautiously and remained non committal playing like professional politicians while the rivals , the BJP concentrated on issues which were more of national level and importance and less of the basic and ordinary day to day level problems. Not that Delhites somewhat attached less importance to national issues or of nationalism which they amply exhibited by electing all the seven MPs from the BJP in 2019 general elections which reverts back to segregation of national issues and state level local issues which could not go side by side or one giving preference to the other. The same policy was adopted by them in 2014 Parliamentary elections too.
It also cannot be overlooked when a dispassionate politicalanalysis was to be made that freebies and intermittent doses of largesse worked its own course to help AAP win so overwhelmingly, be it 200 units of electricity and 20000 litres of water all free and a free bus ride for women passengers. Although Delhi has the highest per capita income, highest next only to Maharashtra in paying income tax by more than 73 lakh tax payers and has comparatively better avenues and opportunities in comparison to other states, but getting certain things free still plays significant part in elections in India. The fear that these freebies might go with the change of the guard at Delhi worked a lot and the benefit went to the AAP. Whatever the reason, win is only a win and that matters but the fact also is to be underlined that AAP prepared for elections and worked silently on it for the last more than eight months while the BJP entered into the fray just a week or so prior to elections. Delhi election results have defined new political and governance related concepts and theories.
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