The Delhi voter has been wooed like never before in the past two weeks. In the gladiatorial battle between the AAP and the BJP in the Delhi assembly election, the voters have been carpet-bombed with high-profile ministers and chief ministers in every street corner and their phones and radios buzzing with relentless political advertisements. So, while party campaign anthems have blared ‘Bagga-Bagga’ and ‘Lage Raho Kejriwal’ from 7 am to 10 pm in Delhi colonies, pamphlets, social media memes and 24X7 news cycle have kept the voters engaged.
Besides the usual, the campaign saw freebies and biryani garnished with Hindu-Muslim and Pakistan analogies – all in the name of ‘deshbhakti’ and ‘azadi’. Delhi voters have been reminded about their religion, migrant status, and their electricity bills. On top of all this, the Election Commission wants the Delhi voter to be Dabangg, and go out and vote.
This is why the Delhi voter is ThePrint’s Newsmaker of the Week.
Also read: Why it’s difficult for BJP to come to power in Delhi
Caught in a whirlwind
This year, election to the 70-member assembly is witnessing a triangular contest between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. The ruling AAP is confident about returning to power while the BJP hopes to not only better its 2015 performance (when it only won 3 seats) but register a turnaround after coming close to winning it in 2013 (when it had secured 31 seats).
Voting is scheduled to begin at 8 am and end by 6 pm at all polling booths on Saturday. The Election Commission will count the votes on Tuesday (11 February). The term for the current Delhi Legislative Assembly ends on 22 February.
The BJP’s victory in the 2017 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election and the 2019 Lok Sabha election have made the activity of reading the mind of the Delhi voter an art form. Will she vote for free bus rides and electricity and water or will she vote against Shaheen Bagh’s Muslim protesters? Will Delhi vote for mohalla clinics and government school reforms or will it support Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah’s brand of nationalism?
While there has been what they call “Kejriwal ki hawa” in Delhi for the past few months ever since the rollout of freebies began with free rides for women in public buses in June 2019, the recent two-week build-up by the BJP is threatening to change the direction of the wind.
Also read: Shaheen Bagh now has a media registration desk to ensure ‘no provocative reportage’
One election, three claimants
As 2019 Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Haryana have shown, the Indian voter is voting differently for state and national elections. A Lokniti CSDS post-poll survey after the May 2019 Lok Sabha election revealed that out of the 55.5 per cent of BJP voters, 24 per cent had the AAP on their minds for the assembly election. Another survey conducted by IANS-Cvoter in January 2020 found that 59.7 per cent predicted the AAP would win this assembly election even as 70.7 per cent felt that Narendra Modi was best suited to be the PM.
The BJP wants to break this state-Centre distinction in voter behaviour. It wants to win the Delhi election to show the world that people are with the party despite the pockets of CAA- NRC protests. So, it is using the Shaheen Bagh card, the desh ke gaddaron card, and the Ram temple card. Even the Balakot card. For the BJP, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal went from being an ‘anarchist’ to a ‘terrorist’. The sheer onslaught of its campaign made Kejriwal call himself a ‘hardcore nationalist’ and recite the Hanuman Chalisa.
Actively supporting Shaheen Bagh may cost Kejriwal the votes of Hindus, while opposing it could make Muslims antagonistic to the AAP. So, he took a middle path and sought votes on the basis of the work he did in the last five years. He hasn’t visited Shaheen Bagh even once, although his deputy Manish Sisodia said he stood with the people protesting at Shaheen Bagh. Kejriwal’s absence from JNU after the mob attack also didn’t go unnoticed. Whether this will turn the college-going youth away from the AAP or not remains to be seen.
Caught between Shaheen bagh and Hanuman Chalisa, the Delhi voter lost something.
The Congress, the third contestant in Delhi, has little to lose. Even the party knows it is going to take the third spot when the results will be announced Tuesday. Congress’ former president Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi addressed a few public meetings and held some campaign rallies but left it to the dynasty’s lower orders to match the BJP’s “star” campaigners – Modi, Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and other union ministers.
Even Spicejet Airline Monday started an initiative – #SpiceDemocracy – to enable voters to fly home so that they can cast their vote in the Delhi election.
As the campaign ended, both Kejriwal and BJP’s Manoj Tiwari made a beeline to the local temple to get blessings. The TV cameras followed. The Delhi voter will decide who is a better Hindu on Saturday.
Kejriwal may have reformed himself slightly, or it may be like a tiger wearing cow’s skin. He did woo Muslim clerics in early years of his rule. Now, he chants Hanuman chalisa. It is like the Devil quoting scripture. He is what he is, an opportunistic politician. Don’t give too much importance to his chanting Hanuman Chalisa.