Third time in office for the AAP: Full marks to governance

Focus on governance and this strategy has worked out perfectly well for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Arvind Kejriwal. Water supply, power supply, schools in Delhi, transportations-these are some points which touch the daily existence of everyone and not only the middle class and this is where the AAP stole a march over the BJP in the Delhi Assembly elections, the result of which was announced today. The final figure is yet to come in, even as this commentary is being penned down, but it is more than clear that AAP has swept the elections leaving the BJP a distant second. The Congress, as in the 2015 Assembly elections, has again failed to open its account and as the pre-poll readings suggested, it was a fight between the AAP and the BJP. The voters of Delhi have also shown that what matters to them are the things that affect the daily existence of the ordinary people and definitely power supply, water supply, transportation and education are what matters ultimately. This is the mantra that should dictate the voting behaviour of everyone and here is hoping that the people of Manipur too take a leaf or two out of the Delhi election results and demonstrate this when the State goes for the Assembly elections in 2022. Moreover in Prashant Kishor, the AAP seemed to have found the right man to strategise the party’s poll campaign and the resounding victory of the party is there to speak for itself.
The final tally may however not speak of the close fight between the AAP and the BJP but in a case of where winner takes all, it is the AAP all the way. No over the top whipping up Nationalistic fervour, no pointing the fingers at anyone and certainly no whipping up passion but laying down the report card of the last five years and chalking out the plans for the next five years-this is what the AAP did and the voters of Delhi were obviously mature enough to read its signficance. This is what is called governance and Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and the other leaders of the AAP have done this perfectly well. It is also interesting to note that in the run up to the elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned for just two days, on February 3 and February 4 and addressed only one election rally. The thrust of the campaign was then left to the other BJP leaders, particularly Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath was also roped in but obviously this failed to cut ice with the voters. An indication that the main vote catcher of the BJP is Narendra Modi while the others may be said to be nothing much more than the supporting cast. In voting back the AAP to power, the people of Delhi have delivered a significant message and this is something which must have dawned on the leadership of the BJP.