Arvind Kejriwal's firm footing on developmental agenda and alternate narrative decimate BJP in Delhi

Though the voter turnout was slightly less than the 2015 assembly elections, Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) went passed 60 seats mark (62) to reduce the BJP to single-digit figure reminding the saffron party of its horrific result five years ago in the national capital.

Though the BJP picked up the fight in the second and third hours of counting on Tuesday by crossing the 20 seats mark, the AAP came back strong to touch 62, five less seats than the last assembly polls, leaving eight for the BJP and a blank for the grand old party, the Congress.

Though Kejriwal looked a happy man as he was not only celebrating AAP's victory but also his wife Sunita's birthday on Tuesday, the campaign trail was not all cheerful over the last couple of cold winter months in the national capital.

Almost right from the beginning it was clear that the BJP were sure of raising the nationalistic agenda as the last nine to ten months of Modi 2.0 fulfilled one after the other poll promises including the abrogation of Article 370 and the enactment of Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which aims to grant citizenship to persecuted non-Muslims who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before 2015.

Striking a deal with poll strategist Prashant Kishore, whose one of the latest clients is West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party Trinamool Congress (TMC), just before the polls, Kejriwal played strategically by not playing in the hands of the BJP and slowly building an alternate narrative, which the entire Opposition had failed to construct in front of the Modi-Shah duo in the 2019 General Elections.

Freebies

After facing the Lok Sabha debacle, the AAP government had resorted to the politics of giving freebies to the people of the national capital.

On Aug 1, 2019, Kejriwal holding a press conference had announced people who consume up to 200 units of electricity will not have to pay anything. Also the government had announced that people who consume 201 units to 401 units of electricity will also get 50 per cent power subsidy.

Two months later, the AAP government had come up with another idea of giving free rides to women in government buses which was projected as a gift to the sisters on "Bhai Duj".

AAP skips Shaheen Bagh and JNU

Though the BJP could not afford to lose focus on the Shaheen Bagh protest, where several Muslim women and men are protesting against the CAA for close to two months now, the AAP preferred to stay away from it, if not ignore it.

Unlike Congress' Shashi Tharoor who went to Shaheen Bagh in solidarity with the protests, Kejriwal and his party never visited the protest site though not completely discarded the cause of the agitation.

When he was asked on a television channel to come clear on CAA, Kejriwal safely said, "What is the need of it? When the country is going through such economic slide, what is the need for such law."

Though the students of JNU were beaten up by some masked men in the city, Kejriwal, reminding people that the Delhi Police is under the central government, stayed away from standing beside the protesting students who had got a host of Bollywood celebrities including Deepika Padukone by their side.

"If my visit had ended the CAA and NRC, then I would have finished it within five minutes. But my visit would not end it but the central government will have to do it. If the central government rolls back CAA and NRC, then all will go back to their homes and get back to work," Kejriwal had said when he was pestered on why he was not visiting Shaheen Bagh.

Trying to rise above politics, Kejriwal on the second last day of the campaign trail even went on to say the person, who had fired in Shaheen Bagh, must be punished doubly if he has any link to the AAP as was claimed by the Delhi Police.

"The shooter should be punished no matter which party he belongs to. If he belongs to AAP, he should be punished double. If the normal punishment is 10 years jail term then he must get 20 years jail term if he has an AAP link," he had said.

BJP's Shaheen Bagh statements go wrong

Noting down the number of seats the AAP and BJP have got, it can be well concluded that the people of Delhi have certainly did not approve the words uttered by the BJP leaders including Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding Shaheen Bagh.

While Home Minister Shah's statement that "press the button of BJP (on EVM machine) so hard, that current reaches Shaheen Bagh" had drawn much criticisms, leaders like Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma and Kapil Mishra had invited stringent steps from the Election Commission (EC).

The Election Commission (EC) had banned Thakur, who had led people to chant "shoot the traitors (Shaheen Bagh protesters)", for 72 hours and Verma, who had said the Shaheen Bagh protesters will enter into the homes of Delhi people and rape women, for 96 hours.

Mishra also faced ban from the EC for comparing the Delhi polls with a contest between "India and Pakistan", leading AAP leader Sanjay Singh to say on Tuesday, "Hindustan has won in the fight between India and Pakistan," with a tone of mockery.

Not holding back, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was barely seen in the campaign, had termed the anti-CAA protests in the national capital as "political conspiracy" and not a "coincidence".

When asked about such statement, Kejriwal's wife Sunita told India Today on Tuesday, "These statements are not good. We should fight and talk on issues."

Focusing on developmental agendas

Though the BJP tried tooth and nail to steer the election campaign on the nationalistic agendas with even flaunting the construction of "sky-touching" Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya, the AAP, led by Kejriwal, wanted people to look into the developmental works.

"I appeal to people that vote for me if you think I have worked. Do not vote for me if you think I have not worked. It needs guts to make this statement," the Delhi Chief Minister had said these words keeping his focus on the developmental agendas.

Soft-Hindutva?

Just ahead of the day when Delhi was about to vote, a video went viral on social media where Kejriwal was spotted reciting Hindu devotional hymn Hanuman Chalisa. He even went on to call himself a "Hanuman-bhakt" in the same interview.

Indicating a possible new avatar of Kejriwal, who does not want to shy away from his religion, the re-elected Chief Minister visited Hanuman Mandir on Tuesday after registering a landslide victory.

Victim card

Much like Prime Minister Modi can turn every abuse on him in his favour, Kejriwal seems to have adapted the style in the run up to the Delhi polls.

Staying calm and reacting to Parvesh Verma's statement where he had called Kejriwal a "terrorist", the AAP chief had left it up to the voters to decide.

Verma was heard in a Jan 25 video saying, "We hear instances of Hindu women picked up by Muslim men... no action is taken as terrorists like Kejriwal are hidden everywhere...Should we fight with Pakistan terrorists in Kashmir or with terrorists like Kejriwal?"

In reply, Kejriwal said, "The BJP people are saying Kejriwal is a terrorist. I have worked for you (people) as your son for five years. Now I leave it to you to decide whether I am your son or terrorist."

"BJP is calling me a terrorist. Throughout my life, I have struggled for the people, everyday I try to work for the people and this nation. I have provided good education to our children. Does that make me a terrorist?" he said.

(Images: AAP and Arvind Kejriwal Twitter handles)