Delhi to vote on February 5, results on 8th, AAP eyes hat-trick
NEW DELHI,JAN 8 : Delhi will go to polls in a single phase on February 5 (Wednesday), with a fierce triangular contest between the AAP, BJP and the Congress setting the political temperatures soaring in the cold wave-gripped national capital. The results will be announced on February 8 (Saturday). By-elections in Milkipur in Uttar Pradesh and Erode (East) in Tamil Nadu will also be held on the same day.
With the Election Commission’s announcement of the poll schedule, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) has come into force. The ruling AAP, battling a wave of corruption allegations, will be eyeing a hat-trick. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party swept the 2015 and 2020 elections with 67 and 62 seats, respectively.
The BJP, reduced to just single digits in the last two elections, will be hoping to return to the helm in the national capital after a hiatus of 26 years. The Congress, which once ruled Delhi for 15 years, will be contesting the polls alone after having stitched an alliance with the AAP for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
PRESTIGE BATTLE FOR AAP AMID SLEW OF CORRUPTION CASES
The election, the first of 2025, is being seen as a prestige battle for all the three parties. Last year, Kejriwal resigned as Chief Minister after his bail in the liquor policy case, asserting that he would return at the helm once the people of Delhi repose their trust in him. This time, the party is banking on a host of welfare schemes targeting the women and elderly to beat anti-incumbency and its rivals.
It has also taken recourse to “soft Hindutva” to nullify the BJP’s “Chunavi Hindu” charge by promising Rs 18,000 monthly compensation to temple priests and gurdwara granthis.
Meanwhile, the BJP, boosted by its clean sweep in the Delhi Lok Sabha polls and thumping victories in Haryana and Maharashtra, has coined the word ‘AAPda’ (disaster) to launch a blistering attack against the ruling party.
“Aapda ko hatana hai, BJP ko laana hai (must eliminate the threat by voting the BJP to power),” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while sounding the BJP’s poll bugle last week.
Both PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have also highlighted the “extravagant renovation” of the Chief Minister’s bungalow, dubbed the ‘Sheeshmahal’, to double down on its corruption offensive.
The fact that Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, AAP MP Sanjay Singh and former Delhi minister Satyendra Jain were arrested by central agencies in corruption cases has given the BJP and Congress considerable ammo to attack the ruling party.
While both the AAP and the BJP have intensified their campaigns, the Congress is yet to hit the ground running, with its leadership yet to make its presence felt. Its presence was only felt on Monday, when deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, DK Shivakumar, released the ‘Pyari Didi Yojana’.
The scheme promises Rs 2,500 per month to eligible women beneficiaries of Delhi. This is seen as a counter to the AAP’s Mahila Samaan Yojna that promises Rs 2,100 per month.
Despite the chill in the Delhi air, the campaigning for the election is picking up heat, with the AAP, BJP and the Congress locked in a high-octane clash.
-PTI