NEW DELHI: With Arvind Kejriwal expected to be in jail and Delhi’s Assembly elections being conducted early next year, the AAP is trying to re-strategise its political resources in order to retain the national capital with full majority. However, there are concerns that it may face a dent on some seats due to Congress party expected to perform better in some constituencies.
A political observer said, “If there is a change in the voting behaviour of people in Delhi, Congress could be a substantial beneficiary in terms of getting more votes. There are some seats where if, Congress party increases its presence and performs better, it will break away a small chunk of traditional voters from the AAP and help BJP win such seats.”
Congress Delhi unit spokesperson Sunil Kumar said, “It is a myth that if Congress party gets stronger then it will benefit BJP. If the Congress gets strong, they are going to win, it is nowhere a factor that BJP is going to win on such and such seats because Congress is going to get strong there. We used to have direct fight with BJP before the Aam Aadmi party came into existence and we used to win.”
He added, “Now even the BJP voters which we call floating voters, those who had once left voting for the Congress party, are coming back to us. Moreover, those who had gone to the Aam Aadmi Party are also coming back to us, so there is no question that BJP will win. Another additional thing is that we are getting ahead in electoral fight because we are getting votes of Muslims and underprivileged classes.”
Although the Congress’s Delhi unit has not emphasised on forming booth committees and is also performing at its lowest due to the weak and inefficient leadership in the national capital. The party is expecting the natural flow of voters towards it through intensive campaigning before the elections. Several leaders also suggest that a prime leader of Delhi, Ajay Maken may not be much considering the fact of booth committees helping win elections. It’s said that he thinks that elections depend on momentum and who people want to vote into power claiming that it is an organic process rather than an activity that can be manoeuvred.
However, leaders in AAP party suggest that the party will continue strengthen its grip on booths which will help the party to retain the power. An AAP leader said, “Congress is nowhere on the ground in Delhi. Maybe this time we may not be able to win as many seats as we won the last time, but we will certainly come back to power with more than 50 seats out of the 70. Those 50 seats are safe seats for us and then we will try to consolidate other seats as well. Our leadership knows that they cannot let the guard down on Delhi. So we will do everything possible to get more than 60 seats.”
An analyst said, “There are daily meetings and rallies in Haryana or any other state by Congress party, but in Delhi there is no is no political activity. In the name of political activity, there are a few protests conducted by youth Congress and in that, they deliberately assert themselves to get beaten up. For example, National Youth Congress president Srinivas is often seen in protests and in the mix of police retaliation.”