33. (SOCIAL-33)
DELHI PUNISHES,
BUT IT ALSO FORGIVES.
Tsunami of Arvind Kejriwal's AAP sweep away the traditional parties in Delhi Assembly elections. BJP down to single digit.Congress got big zero. Aam Admi Party which is the force of Non BJP, Non Congress break the history in Delhi. This victory of Democracy reflects Arvind's strong positioning as a "change agent" and his India against corruption movement put a break on the Modi juggernaut. Delhi Assembly elections impact on rest of India.
Anna Hazare congratulated Arvind for his landslide victory and advised 'don't repeat 2013 mistakes. Arvind Kejriwal had courted controversy within weeks of becoming Chief Minister by
sitting on a dharna in the heart of Delhi near Parliament House over his
demand for suspending three police officers for allegedly not acting
against criminals. He had also come under attack on the governance
agenda.He tendered an apology to the Delhi voters claiming that he had made a
mistake and not any crime by resigning in 49 days. What was considered
his biggest handicap soon became his most potent weapon. Delhi gave him another chance to rule Delhi.Delhi punishes but forgives.With stories of how corruption had come down during his brief rule, the
Delhi voter flocked to AAP as the party gathered strength.
Soft-spoken but a man with strong
conviction, the Ramon Magsaysay award winner was part of the Team Anna,
along with first woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi, lawyer Prashant Bhushan
and others. He was the civil society representative member of the
committee constituted by the Government to draft the Jan Lokpal bill,
following the campaign for introduction of the anti-graft legislation.His efforts in the enactment of
the RTI Act to empower the poorest citizens of India won him the Ramon
Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006. In February 2006, after
resigning as Joint Commissioner in the Income Tax Department he became a
full-time activist and started an NGO, Public Cause Research
Foundation, with his award money as a corpus fund.
Delhi is not a state but has a Legislative Assembly. Which has very little powers. Delhities demanding for Full statehood for them. Delhi is a city which is a media hub, therefore intensely scrutinizing of
those in government. It is a city which has over the last 25 years
developed a radical bone, its middle and upper classes quick to take to
streets to register their protest. It is also the city where the BJP has
failed to win a state election five times in a row.
In Delhi, the baniyas are a very significant voter community. The BJP lost the banyan vote in Delhi to AAP. The last time AAP won the Delhi elections, it rode the wave of the aggrieved. Another one is the huge number of central government staffers, Middle class families, working staff, Small traders and youth all voted for AAP. Modi’s worst enemies are inside his party. The Opposition counts for nothing.
This election wasn't billed as a referendum on the communal ism-secularism debate, but fears about BJP's polarization
tactics became campaign subtext in Delhi. The middle and upper classes
became alarmed by the slew of issues the Sangh leaders began pulling out
from the pockets of their khaki shorts. Love jihad, ghar wapsi, the
controversy around Aligarh Muslim University, the intemperate remarks of
BJP MP's, antediluvian prescriptions for women reeking of patriarchy -
it just seemed the Hindutva hotheads weren't willing to hit the pause
button.he party never came up with a positive agenda believing that it was on a
roll and would win Delhi easily riding on the Narendra Modi wave.Their series of questions to Kejriwal and negative campaign also worked in AAP's favor and
the BJP itself had no answer how they would solve Delhi's problems.
The Aam Aadmi Party has swept the Delhi elections, and the principal
reason for that lies within the BJP, not in any AAP promises or hopes it
generated. BJP failed to nip the opposition in the bud. Now it is time to damage control aggressively. BJP should know the mood of the Nation. Delhi is a clear unambiguous feedback to Modi. Time is still not lost. At the same time excessive expectations before AAP. Arvind Kejriwal fall can be greater if he does not meet the greatest of great expectations.
-------PENDYALA VASUDEVARAO
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