It was 14th Feb, 2014. Arvind Kejriwal had resigned after 49 turbulent days as the Chief Minister of Delhi. It is 10th Feb, 2015. Delhi has given him back his Chief Minister’s chair washing out the Congress and BJP completely.
Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party or AAP won 67 out of 70 seats of the Delhi Assembly. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party got only 3 seats. The Congress party which ruled the state for 15 years until being ousted in 2013 did not win a single seat.
There are five key factors behind such glorious victory of Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party.
First, one year ago, Kejriwal apologised to his voters while he was quitting his job as Chief Minister. Later, he admitted his mistakes of hastily taken decision but he always looked honest and sincere to his cause. Now it has been clear from the Delhi Assembly Poll result that his apology and sacrifice paid him high dividend. Voters trusted him and warmly gifted him a second chance to fight for them.
Secondly, after Kejriwal’s resignation, the Centre did not hold a fresh poll for a year. The AAP got time to revamp its organisational structure. Moreover they came up with more positive and sharper election agenda emphasising mostly on local issues such as free Bijli- Paani( electricity and water) for Delhiites. It worked tremendously among the urban poor and middle class in Delhi.
Thirdly, the resounding victory of the AAP clearly shows that Congress failed to regain its lost ground and entire Congress vote switched in favour of the AAP.
Fourthly , such landslide victory pointed out that Muslims in Delhi supported the AAP wholeheartedly. In the last assembly election, the Muslim vote was divided between Congress and AAP. But this time, the AAP has been able to get sizable Muslim votes though they consciously worked to avoid any polarisation of voters on religious ground.
And fifthly, Narendra Modi ascended to power in Delhi in May last year. Such miserable performance of the BJP in this Assembly poll fired up the ineluctable debate – Is Modi wave waning or Delhi voted for the BJP in Lok Sabha election and has consciously brought the AAP in the state.
After six decades of Independence, this is for the first time in Delhi the mainstream political parties were swept aside by the rise of a regional party. It voiced common man’s victory which truly defines the ethos of the world’s largest democracy as it is written in its constitution. Next five years is not only the crucial for the AAP, also for every citizen of the country expecting to witness a paradigm shift in Indian politics.
