Brij Bhardwaj
Delhi elections are becoming interesting as the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress, who were allies six months ago, have become bitter enemies. AAP has declared that unless senior Congress leaders take action against Ajay Maken, who called the convenor of AAP, Arvind Kejriwal, anti-national, they will seek to oust Congress from the opposition alliance. AAP has also accused the Congress of having received a huge amount of money from the BJP to fight elections and has therefore put up strong candidates against top leaders of AAP.
The two parties, who were allies in the poll for the Lok Sabha, also face a problem as they have a common vote bank which includes minorities, poor sections of society, and scheduled castes. It is no secret that AAP became a major player in Delhi by taking control of voters who earlier were supporters of the Congress Party. In the current elections, the Congress Party is trying to win back those who were with them earlier. Minorities also feel more comfortable with Congress as AAP has lost its attraction to them since it has been trying to beat the BJP by undertaking activities like sending people to religious places for pilgrimages and having leaders visit temples and participate in religious functions.
Congress leaders are also criticising AAP for the liquor scam and its failure to build infrastructure, particularly the failure to improve water supply and roads. They argue that during Congress rule, when Sheila Dixit was the Chief Minister of Delhi, they made a lot of progress. Roads and stadiums were built and Delhi was beautified. The AAP Government has used most of its budget for concessions and publicity, leaving little for infrastructure.
Congress has put up strong candidates in contest against top leaders of AAP. For instance, Sandeep Dixit will oppose Kejriwal, who is contesting from the New Delhi constituency, which was also the constituency of Mrs Sheila Dixit, former Chief Minister of Delhi and mother of Sandeep Dixit. This has made it into an interesting triangular contest. The BJP is yet to announce its candidate. To overcome ten years of incumbency, AAP has decided to offer a fresh set of free bites, like an allowance of Rs 1,000 for women, to be raised to Rs. 2,100 later, and health care scheme for elders which includes medical care not only in Government hospitals but also in private hospitals. These schemes have been announced but following representation by BJP, the officials of the concerned departments have issued a statement declaring that no such schemes are under consideration and that anyone collecting information for them or doing enrollment for them is a fraud.
The Congress leader Mr Dixit has accused AAP of collecting sensitive information from citizens in this process and has appealed to the Lt Governor of Delhi to stop the same. Both the BJP and the Congress are criticising AAP for announcing such schemes when elections are to be held soon and without any budget provisions.
The fight between AAP and Congress, who are both part of the opposition alliance INDIA, may create problems for them in the future. The Congress and AAP have never been able to get along. AAP tried for an alliance in the Haryana poll but the Congress did not agree. They also opposed each other in Punjab. But the battle in Delhi has become bitter and is likely to create problems for the opposition alliance in the future. BJP leaders are obviously happy as two members of the INDIA alliance are fighting each other. They hope that the Congress vote share will increase, as it may help them by reducing the margin between them and AAP.
Delhi voters make different choices in the polls for the Lok Sabha, the Assembly and the Municipal Committee. In the contest for the Lok Sabha, the BJP won all seats. The Congress party was number two and AAP was in third position. In the Assembly poll, AAP got all but seven seats, which went to the BJP, and the Congress won none. As such, the present poll outcome for the Assembly is difficult to predict, but there will be a tough fight with no walk over for any party
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