COOL BREEZE

How important is it for Kejriwal to win Delhi?
Is it more important for Arvind Kejriwal to retain Delhi or does the BJP have more at stake in wresting the capital from the Aam Admi Party. A bit of both. Arguably, Delhi is Kejriwal’s stronghold and his political karam bhoomi, but he also has the larger state of Punjab with him (at least until 2027). The BJP has a problem of plenty, but being

the capital city, Delhi comes with its own optics. More than that, since the BJP has not put up a CM face in this election it has become a Modi vs Kejriwal fight. This has considerably raised the stakes for the BJP. It is not that the BJP has not lost any state elections ever since Modi became PM. It has lost Delhi to Kejriwal at least twice during Modi’s watch but since then relations between the BJP and the AAP leader have gone steadily downhill. The personal nature of attacks on both sides have made this as much a battle of prestige as it is a political face-off. Both the BJP and AAP campaigns are being led by charismatic leaders. As of now, Kejriwal has the edge. But this is before the Modi blitzkrieg and before the Budget announcements. Will AAP keep its lead; which way will Delhi vote?

J&K CM VS LT GOVERNOR
Never say never. If there is one thing J&K CM Omar Abdullah did not want, it was to be engaged in a day to day skirmish with the Lt Governor over transfers and postings. This was one reason he wasn’t keen to contest the assembly polls until statehood was restored to J&K. For reasons of his own he changed his mind but his worst fears have come true if the ongoing tussle between Raj Bhavan and the CM house is to go by. (Incidentally, does anyone know why the Raj Bhavan has not been redesignated as Raj Niwas since J&K is now a Union Territory, or was the downgrade only for the rest of the state?). While there had been talk of changing the current Lt Governor (Manoj Sinha), this is yet to happen. However, what has sent a reassuring note to the NC government is the fact that while Narendra Modi had a rather warm interaction with the CM, the Lt Governor was given only a cursory mention in the PM’s speech (along with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari) at the inauguration of the Z-Morh tunnel in Kashmir recently. Well, for those watching for signs, that was one because the PM as we know, weighs every word with caution.

THE CONGRESS GAME PLAN
The Congress has been criticized by its I.N.D.I.A partners for targeting the Aam Admi Party more than the BJP in the Delhi campaign. But there could be a silver lining here, for by doing this the party is dividing the anti-AAP vote and thereby cutting into the BJP’s vote bank. This is precisely what happened in West Bengal when the Congress did not align with the TMC, it actually ended up helping Mamata Banerjee. Hence, before its critics castigate the Congress, they should first take a look at the larger picture here. This could be a strategic move or an unintentional fallout but by not tying up with the AAP in Delhi the Congress is remaining true to the one ideology of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, which is to defeat the BJP.