Delhi Assembly Elections 2013: AAP close to BJP haunts Congress
Arvind Kejriwal, convenor of Aam Aadmi Party, waves to supporters from his party HQ after winning against long-serving chief minister Sheila Dikshit in New Delhi. (AFP)
Assembly elections 2013: Results
| State | BJP | Cong | BSP | AAP | Ind/Others |
| Madhya Pradesh | 165 | 58 | 04 | NA | 03 |
| Rajasthan | 162 | 21 | 03 | NA | 13 |
| Chhattisgarh | 49 | 39 | 01 | NA | 01 |
| Delhi | 31 | 08 | 00 | 28 | 03 |
* Click the State to read updates
Though the Bharatiya Janata Party dethroned the Congress on Sunday and emerged as the single largest party in the Delhi Assembly election, winning 31 of the 70 seats, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stole the show in its debut by scooping up 28 seats.
Witnessing a triangular electoral contest for the first time, the electorate in Delhi sprung a surprise by throwing a situation where no party is in a clear position to form the government on its own. Several hours after the picture became clear, none of the three parties talked about government formation. The AAP asserted that it would play a role of constructive opposition, while former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari said the party would form the government only if it got support in the natural process otherwise “we would like to sit in the Opposition.”
AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal proved to be a giant killer by defeating three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in the New Delhi constituency by a margin of more than 25,000 votes. The former Delhi BJP president, Vijender Gupta, came a poor third.
The highlight of the AAP’s sterling performance is that several of its political nonentities proved giant killers by defeating Congress stalwarts such as four-time MLA Chaudhary Prem Singh, PWD Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, Education Minister Kiran Walia, Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami and Health Minister A.K. Walia.
The AAP won not only in the constituencies dominated by the lower middle and working classes in East and West Delhi, but it also emerged victorious in posh South Delhi Assembly segments.
“We accept our defeat and will analyse what went wrong. We thank people of Delhi for supporting us for 15 years,” Ms. Dikshit said after submitting her resignation. Mr. Kejriwal, meanwhile, described the outcome as a “historic mandate,” saying people had voted for “honest” brand of politics.
Wining 52 seats, the Congress wrested power in Delhi from the BJP in 1998. BJP’s Madan Lal Khurana became the first Chief Minister in 1993 after 70-seat Assembly was created. He was replaced by Saheb Singh Verma and just before the 1998 election, the party brought in Sushma Swaraj as the third Chief Minister in the midst of soaring onion prices and worsening law and order situation.
Sheila Dikshit notched the hat-trick in 2003 and 2008 47 seats in 2003 and 43 in 2008.
This time around, the Congress has won only eight seats, clearly losing support from across the classes. Beginning with allegations of corruption in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Congress government also took the beating on account of rising prices, high power and water rates. Though it was credited with development of infrastructure, bringing in Delhi Metro, setting up educational institutions, the party failed to decode a strong undercurrent of AAP and aspirations of the young voters — a majority being first-timers — who turned out in large numbers to cast their votes.
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In many of these 20 constituencies, candidates won on thin margins of a few hundred votes. There was one seat - Rajouri Garden in west Delhi - where the slender margin of 46 votes made history as far as the Delhi Assembly elections are concerned. The political fight is going to be tougher this year for these 20 seats as the new entrant, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has already registered its active presence.
A close analysis of the 2008 Assembly election results reveals that both the main parties had received a good share of votes and there was a very thin margin between the vote percentage of these two parties. While the Congress received 40.31 per cent of the total votes, the runner-up, the BJP, was not far behind, getting 36.84 per cent of the total votes.
Key constituencies
Of the total 70 seats there were 20 seats where the margin between the winner and runner-up was even lesser. These 20 seats are Rajouri Garden, Ghonda, Trilokpuri, Patparganj, Narela, Vikaspuri, Mustafabad, Mehrauli, Shahdara, Tri Nagar, Bijwasan, Timarpur, Kasturba Nagar, Model Town, Gokalpur, Wazirpur, Krishna Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Malviya Nagar and Okhla.
The Congress had won 13 of these 20 seats and the BJP, six. One seat had gone to a BSP candidate. Leaders from both parties agreed that winning these 20 seats would not be a cakewalk. "We can't ignore the Aam Aadmi Party. Political equations have changed due to the entry of the AAP. We also believe that he (Arvind Kejriwal) will get some share of votes in certain seats. But it will affect the prospects of the BJP more," a Congress legislator said.
While Congress leaders are saying the party will emerge victorious on the basis of development work in the last 15 years, the main issues for the Assembly election are inflation, rise in power tariff, irregular water supply and corruption. A BJP leader said the general issues prevailing across the country, like inflation and corruption, would play a crucial role. "I think that it is not local issues but general issues, like corruption and price rise, that will affect the Congress' vote share," said the leader.
This Delhi Assembly election is the beginning of AAP leader Kejriwal's political journey. He is aware that it will be embarrassing if his party does not get its share of votes. To get public attention, and the votes that have so far been shared between the Congress and BJP, he has adopted different strategies. He is known for his crusade against corruption and in this election his main message to the people is a corruption-free government.
The AAP is focusing on unauthorised colonies, resettlement colonies and jhuggi areas where the people really appear to support him and his party. The residents of these areas face basic problems, like inadequate supply of water, lack of sewerage, price rise, lack of hospitals and basic education, and Kejriwal and his team will try to draw the maximum political advantage from these issues.
Star power to help involve youngsters
Don't be surprised if you see Katrina Kaif or Kareena Kapoor urging you to cast your precious votes in Delhi this Assembly elections. The Delhi Election Commission is banking on celebrity power to attract youngsters to the election booths.
Officials said Katrina and Kareena are the top choices for the advertising campaign for this Assembly elections. "There are many actresses, and media agencies are working on the project. Very soon, we will finalise one celebrity. Some actress from TV serials could also be roped in. The main purpose is to attract young voters. The youth identify themselves easily with celebrities," a senior Delhi EC official said.
The share of youth has seen a substantial rise in the revised electoral roll this year. Earlier, there were a total of 98,000 youngsters on the voters' list and now after a revision exercise by the election commission, the number has crossed three lakh.
"We have already added the youth population, particularly the college-going students, to the list. Now, we want them to come out and vote and it will certainly make some difference this year," the official added. The Delhi Election Commission office has also decided to rope in major Ramlila associations in the city to encourage people to vote.
- Kumar Vikram/ New Delhi
BJP still racking its brains over who will take on Sheila
If naming a chief ministerial candidate is a telling urgency for the Delhi BJP, finding a candidate to fight against Sheila Dikshit in her bastion - New Delhi Assembly constituency - is even a bigger poll problem for the saffron party.
Knowing well what happened to senior BJP leader Vijay Jolly, who had lost the election against Dikshit in 2008, not many party leaders have evinced interest in taking on the chief minister. Even Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel, former mayor Arti Mehra and Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, V.K. Malhotra, have not hinted of any such bravado. Since the 2008 loss, Jolly has been trying to gain a foothold back in the city politics.
The party circle is abuzz, though, with some names. "Actress Kirron Kher's name comes at the top on this list. She even has the endorsement of Goel, who had invited her for the recent bijli (power) rally at Ramila Maidan and she obliged... Kher can also rally support of the celebrities for the party's election campaign," a BJP leader told Mail Today.
Kher is not new to the BJP and politics. Earlier, she shouldered responsibility of the party's women affairs and during Nitin Gadkari's tenure as party president, she was co-convener of its human rights cell. "She is active and a known public face who can match the Dikshit power," said another party leader.
Another name doing the rounds for BJP's candidate against Dikshit is that of Kiran Chopra, a social activist, who is a hit among the Capital's senior citizens as she runs a NGO for them. She is close to senior BJP leaders at the national level.
There may be a surprise face to woo the young voters in Vani Tripathi, a name not many endorse in party circles. "But she has been discussed definitely and one is not sure if she would contest," a leader said. It is also learnt that Shahnawaz Hussain is promoting political activist Rajiv Rana, who is also the president of New Delhi District.
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AAP entry makes Delhi Assembly election race tougher for Sheila, unprepared BJP
The electoral battle is all set to be like a 20-20 match in 20 Assembly seats in the upcoming Delhi elections . These seats, spread across the city, witnessed a close contest between the candidates of the two main parties, the Congress and the BJP, in 2008.In many of these 20 constituencies, candidates won on thin margins of a few hundred votes. There was one seat - Rajouri Garden in west Delhi - where the slender margin of 46 votes made history as far as the Delhi Assembly elections are concerned. The political fight is going to be tougher this year for these 20 seats as the new entrant, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has already registered its active presence.
A close analysis of the 2008 Assembly election results reveals that both the main parties had received a good share of votes and there was a very thin margin between the vote percentage of these two parties. While the Congress received 40.31 per cent of the total votes, the runner-up, the BJP, was not far behind, getting 36.84 per cent of the total votes.
Key constituencies
Of the total 70 seats there were 20 seats where the margin between the winner and runner-up was even lesser. These 20 seats are Rajouri Garden, Ghonda, Trilokpuri, Patparganj, Narela, Vikaspuri, Mustafabad, Mehrauli, Shahdara, Tri Nagar, Bijwasan, Timarpur, Kasturba Nagar, Model Town, Gokalpur, Wazirpur, Krishna Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Malviya Nagar and Okhla.
The Congress had won 13 of these 20 seats and the BJP, six. One seat had gone to a BSP candidate. Leaders from both parties agreed that winning these 20 seats would not be a cakewalk. "We can't ignore the Aam Aadmi Party. Political equations have changed due to the entry of the AAP. We also believe that he (Arvind Kejriwal) will get some share of votes in certain seats. But it will affect the prospects of the BJP more," a Congress legislator said.
While Congress leaders are saying the party will emerge victorious on the basis of development work in the last 15 years, the main issues for the Assembly election are inflation, rise in power tariff, irregular water supply and corruption. A BJP leader said the general issues prevailing across the country, like inflation and corruption, would play a crucial role. "I think that it is not local issues but general issues, like corruption and price rise, that will affect the Congress' vote share," said the leader.
This Delhi Assembly election is the beginning of AAP leader Kejriwal's political journey. He is aware that it will be embarrassing if his party does not get its share of votes. To get public attention, and the votes that have so far been shared between the Congress and BJP, he has adopted different strategies. He is known for his crusade against corruption and in this election his main message to the people is a corruption-free government.
The AAP is focusing on unauthorised colonies, resettlement colonies and jhuggi areas where the people really appear to support him and his party. The residents of these areas face basic problems, like inadequate supply of water, lack of sewerage, price rise, lack of hospitals and basic education, and Kejriwal and his team will try to draw the maximum political advantage from these issues.
Star power to help involve youngsters
Don't be surprised if you see Katrina Kaif or Kareena Kapoor urging you to cast your precious votes in Delhi this Assembly elections. The Delhi Election Commission is banking on celebrity power to attract youngsters to the election booths.
Officials said Katrina and Kareena are the top choices for the advertising campaign for this Assembly elections. "There are many actresses, and media agencies are working on the project. Very soon, we will finalise one celebrity. Some actress from TV serials could also be roped in. The main purpose is to attract young voters. The youth identify themselves easily with celebrities," a senior Delhi EC official said.
The share of youth has seen a substantial rise in the revised electoral roll this year. Earlier, there were a total of 98,000 youngsters on the voters' list and now after a revision exercise by the election commission, the number has crossed three lakh.
"We have already added the youth population, particularly the college-going students, to the list. Now, we want them to come out and vote and it will certainly make some difference this year," the official added. The Delhi Election Commission office has also decided to rope in major Ramlila associations in the city to encourage people to vote.
- Kumar Vikram/ New Delhi
BJP still racking its brains over who will take on Sheila
Knowing well what happened to senior BJP leader Vijay Jolly, who had lost the election against Dikshit in 2008, not many party leaders have evinced interest in taking on the chief minister. Even Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel, former mayor Arti Mehra and Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, V.K. Malhotra, have not hinted of any such bravado. Since the 2008 loss, Jolly has been trying to gain a foothold back in the city politics.
The party circle is abuzz, though, with some names. "Actress Kirron Kher's name comes at the top on this list. She even has the endorsement of Goel, who had invited her for the recent bijli (power) rally at Ramila Maidan and she obliged... Kher can also rally support of the celebrities for the party's election campaign," a BJP leader told Mail Today.
Kher is not new to the BJP and politics. Earlier, she shouldered responsibility of the party's women affairs and during Nitin Gadkari's tenure as party president, she was co-convener of its human rights cell. "She is active and a known public face who can match the Dikshit power," said another party leader.
Another name doing the rounds for BJP's candidate against Dikshit is that of Kiran Chopra, a social activist, who is a hit among the Capital's senior citizens as she runs a NGO for them. She is close to senior BJP leaders at the national level.
There may be a surprise face to woo the young voters in Vani Tripathi, a name not many endorse in party circles. "But she has been discussed definitely and one is not sure if she would contest," a leader said. It is also learnt that Shahnawaz Hussain is promoting political activist Rajiv Rana, who is also the president of New Delhi District.
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