Analysing BJP's Return to Delhi
After 27 years of exile, the BJP has returned to Delhi. With victories across the country and at the center, winning Delhi, the national capital, must have been a matter of prestige for the party.
While for the BJP, some presence of the INC is acceptable, as they are aware of the party's past mistakes and can easily point out scandals from A to Z, the 70 years of corruption under the INC has no bearing on AAP, a relatively fresh party.
AAP could have easily replaced the INC as the prime opposition party of India if it was to expand, however, the campaigns of both BJP and INC seem to have derailed this possibility for another decade.
Even after the aggressive use of agencies, where eventually Mr. Kejriwal was sent to jail, seemed to cause some initial unrest, however the issue appears to have lost its prominence in public discourse. This is proof that the BJP has managed to convince the public of the necessity of prosecuting AAP leaders.
While Congress may have scored zero, Mr. Rahul Gandhi's mature appearances on the Yamuna and environmental issues, combined with BJP's promise regarding the Yamuna, appears to have struck a blow to AAP, where people may have voted for the BJP because of its current power holding and its ability to address such inter-state issues.
Though AAP may have lost, its performance in Muslim-majority areas indicates that BJP's attempts to use caste divisions within the Muslim community have not succeeded in generating electoral gains.
BJP must widely uphold the impoverished sections of Muslim society to ensure social justice and secure electoral victories together.
This election also raises an important case study on freebies aka the social justice politics. Remarkably, the BJP has defeated both AAP and INC, despite their promises of Samman Nidhi schemes.
JP Nadda's assurance to not end the schemes launched by AAP seems to have done the trick. Considering the experience from the Chhattisgarh elections, it now appears that when all parties offer something, the loyal voters of the BJP have no reason for infidelity.
The fact that INC failed to win any seats after campaigning on the caste census based campaigns is a significant victory for the Sangh Parivar, which has consistently opposed tactics that undermine the social integrity of the nation. For the BJP, Delhi Door Nahi!
Article by
Shreeacharya Mishra
Younginker
Law Student, Raipur