Will the Modi magic prevail over AAP’s clamor for another chance in Delhi?

Opinion polls split, capital off to polls on Feb 7.

By Rajiv Theodore

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is undoubtedly a leader of spectacular charisma, élan and wisdom. It’s common knowledge that when the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the national elections in May, it was not because of the party but due to the sole presence of Modi magic.

Modi was everywhere, we may recollect, campaigning, moving from one place to another, giving a speech there, a hug on the side, breaking bread with all and sundry and finally filling the leadership vacuum in the country which it so badly needed after the pusillanimous performance  of the country’s oldest political party—the Congress.

However, the party is today searching for an element of luck in the polls, some say desperately.  The BJP has fielded all its top brass to campaign for the Delhi polls, including Modi who held four rallies in the national capital. The BJP faces its biggest stumbling block, the relatively nascent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leader Arvind Kejriwal.

Last year, it was not the mighty Congress that spoiled the party of BJP, but AAP, who surprised everyone to romp home, but it is another story that Kejriwal floundered after he reached the finishing line – he governed Delhi as chief minister for 49 days last year before resigning over a stalled anti-corruption proposal.

This time, even Modi has taken a keen interest in Delhi polls; a reminder of AAP’s growing importance and formidability. Surprisingly, Kejriwal does not have to offer much to the people, except for his ready espousal of honesty and justice in the government which had been wracked by charges of serial corruption, in previous Congress-led governments.

The common  man or the Aam Aadmi (which Kejriwal names his party and the symbolic hand broom) had been sick and tired of politicians of all   hues and shades doing everything but to help the people who are in dire need for cheaper electricity, essential food, safety – especially women’s and the entrenched indifference of the bureaucracy and the police. And this is what Kejriwal and Co. is raring to do, or at least the people perceive he would – to cleanse the system with his symbolic broom.

It is a reminder of the power wielded by Mahatma Gandhi while trying to eject the British out of India. Decades ago, he used salt as a symbol of the people and a rallying point to converge against the colonial rulers with huge success.

Exit polls have been confusing. Some predict a win and majority for the BJP, while some others tilt AAP’s way, shy of a majority. Congress is not in the reckoning. Modi has gone on record to state that exit polls cannot be trusted at all.

Kejriwal has asked the residents of Delhi to “forgive that mistake” from last year when he resigned.

Delhi goes to the polls on Saturday and the results would be out by Tuesday. The weather office here is predicting showers on polling day that analyst say could dampen the turnout which was an unprecedented 66% last year.

Here are some quick statistics:

• A total of 673 candidates are in the fray for the Delhi Assembly polls.
• BJP’s Kiran Bedi is contesting from the Krishna Nagar constituency, which has 13 candidates.
• The New Delhi seat from where Arvind Kejriwal is seeking re-election also has 13 candidates in the fray.
• Another high-profile constituency Sadar Bazar, from where Congress’s Ajay Maken is contesting, has a total of 13 candidates.
• Eight candidates are in the fray in Greater Kailash seat from where Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of President Pranab Mukherjee is fighting the polls.