A few weeks ago, when the Election Commission announced the dates of Delhi Assembly election, it looked like a one sided contest in favor of AAP. The Congress has already given up on Delhi polls with its major leaders joining AAP just a few days before the announcement of election dates. The Kejriwal led AAP clearly has only one opposition- BJP, which was expected not to win more than 20 seats.
The pollsters were giving two third majority to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party. The party was so sure of winning the election, that it gave party tickets to newcomers and even little known technocrats. The old loyalists like former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s grandson even accused the party chief of selling the tickets for crores of rupees, just like Mayawati who sells tickets for the seats which she is sure of winning.
But, after the dates were announced, Home Minister Amit Shah started looking after the party’s Delhi campaign personally. He himself has held three to four rallies on daily basis and then he receives feedback about campaign of other leaders and party prospects.
Speaking of his health, Kejriwal recently said: “I’m a diabetic, I take insulin four times a day. If a person with diabetes is on insulin and doesn’t eat anything for 3-4 hours, they collapse and die. In such a situation, I have done a hunger strike against corruption twice, once for 15 days and then 10 days.”
Amit Shah has shifted the party campaign from the local issues of Delhi to the Shaheen Bagh issue, and has criticized Kejriwal for appeasing the Muslim fundamentalists. “Arvind Kejriwal Is The Biggest Liar I Have Ever Seen,” said Shah in an election rally.
“Now, Sharjeel Imam has threatened to cut off Assam from India. We have sent him to jail. I want to ask Kejriwal-ji whether he will grant sanction to prosecute him or not,” he added.
Flagging the Shaheen Bagh issue, Amit Shah said, “Press the button so hard that protesters in Shaheen Bagh feel the current.”
Given the fact Congress has already given up on the fight in Delhi, and it cannot play the role of even a ‘vote katua’, the fight in Delhi is a two way contest.
This is the first time in an assembly or general election that PM Modi has taken a back seat and Amit Shah is the face of the party. PM Modi won the assembly elections for BJP in the states like Maharashtra, Haryana, and Jharkhand without a CM face. Now, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeks to repeat the same.
The party has not declared any CM face for the Delhi election. BJP is fighting the election on the performance of Union government, which has taken many ground breaking decisions like CAA and abrogation of Article 370 in the first six months of the second term.
Amit Shah has been face of the party as well as that of the government in the second term, and with court verdict on Ram Mandir and crucial decision on other socio-political promises of the party, he has garnered massive support among the masses of the country.
There is also important differentiation between the campaigning style and issues of Amit Shah. PM Modi used to campaign around issues like corruption of opposition parties and promised good governance, on the other hand, Amit Shah Campaigns on the issues of Nationalism and Hindutva. In the Delhi assembly elections, Amit Shah has repeatedly invoked the Hindutva and Nationalism.
In Delhi, the Brahmins and Bania community have traditionally voted for Congress party. However, Arvind Kejriwal has been able to sway the Bania votes not just by flagging his caste, but, also by giving the Rajya Sabha seats to the members of the community.
Amit Shah might be able to bring back the Brahmin and Bania community to BJP fold, as given the prosperous socio-economic status of the members of this community, they are swayed by freebies but the socio-cultural issues like Nationalism and Hindutva.
With Amit Shah’s effort for the Delhi Assembly, the election which looked like a cakewalk for AAP is now proving to be a neck to neck contest. BJP has garnered massive coverage in the last few days, and given the fact that people of Delhi are naturally more media savvy compared to other parts of the country, this is definitely going to help BJP.
A leader like Amit Shah could turn the outcome of election with weeks of effort and he is doing exactly that. The Union Home Minister seeks to be the new ‘election winning machine’ of BJP, as PM Modi is now more focused on the governance issue. Even if BJP is manages to cross the thirty mark in the 70 constituency assembly, it will be a big win for the efforts of the Amit Shah.
