Delhi Poll-Ready: ‘King’ Kejriwal Or ‘Queen’ Bedi?

Obama-frenzy over, Delhi is getting ready to go and cast its vote on February 7. Will the bet be on the dark horse AAP or a ‘strong’ government as assured by BJP?

The recent surveys have been bringing some clarity on Delhi elections; it was nothing more than an apparition till few weeks ago. Aam Admi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal hasn’t lost his edge yet on Delhi voters, despite the soppy drama he staged last year of resigning just 49 days after assuming power. There is something he has done right in the current campaign to retain his ‘trust’ among voters in the last few months.

Will AAP get a clear margin? Chances are equal or 50-50 with AAP being the dark horse of the upcoming polls. To be on the safe side, there are some poll predictions that predict a hung assembly with seats being shared between BJP and AAP—both parties are trying to outdo each other to win the most-priced Delhi voter.

Despite Sonia Gandhi’s poll campaigns, and somewhat a cold involvement of the ‘Prince’ of Congress Rahul Gandhi the competition lines have been drawn rather clearly. The fight is only between BJP and AAP with the latter having a fair chance of an upper hand.


The lower middle class is all forgiving and all willing to give AAP another chance. And, in more ways than one, this would help a healthier democracy thrive better in the capital and at national level too.

Amit Shah’s master strategy of roping in Kiran Bedi may have some counter effects. Firstly, she is a former bureaucrat who isn’t too used to fighting elections. AAP has already played its cards in the last elections, and the learnings may only get better with time.

Scams, the quintessential part of any elections have been raising their head from time to time to ensure that the voters stay confused at best. Whether it was BJP workers being miffed at Kiran Bedi’s selection as Delhi’s CM candidate from BJP, or the recent funding scam that has hit AAP hard– they are all tools that would be employed to make sure the choice isn’t an easy one.

BJP went on an offensive when it released ads that depicted AAP and Anna Hazare in poor light. The ads didn’t go down well with the voters and BJP has already sensed its mistake. Now, there isn’t any time to make amends because admitting to a mistake may mean further strengthening AAP’s voters and vetoing its presence on the battleground. Make no mistake; no political party has EVER done that.

In the last few days, BJP’s CM candidate Kiran Bedi had a bit of a blow with her campaign incharge Narendra Tandon resigning from his post, and also bequeathing the party membership over her ‘dictatorial’ attitude. Something like this hadn’t happened in the party before and this would have dealt a major blow had the issue not been resolved soon. Within 24-hours, and with ‘timely’ intervention of master strategist Amit Shah, BJP Tandon not only came back into the folds of BJP, but also vowed to ensure Kiran Bedi’s victory in the elections. Arvind Kejriwal was quick to comment: Kiran Bedi will be the Manmohan Singh of BJP, a voiceless CM. Quite a contradictory statement that was, considering Tandon called her ‘dictatorial’.

Now for AAP, the Hawala money scam seems to be the most unexpected thing to have happened with just few days to go for the elections. The recent media reports have been talking about Arvind Kejriwal’s clear winning streak with AAP bagging 36 – 41 seats in the 70-seated Delhi. BJP is predicted to win about 27 – 32 seats. Congress may have to be content with a sorry number of 2 – 7 seats and others may just about make the cut with 5 or less seats.

Will the Hawala funding scam where AAP seems to have received money from illegal sources termed as ‘money at midnight’ turn party’s chances of winning (if any) upside down? Will the EC’s objection to Arvind Kejriwal telling people to take money from any party and vote only for AAP (with a case reaching the courts now) miff the Delhi voters?

While the questions may affect the pattern of voting on Feb 7, clarity will emerge only on Feb 10 when Delhi gets its ruler.

Image: indiatimes