Delhi Assembly election 2015 is astonishing as it has established a landmark in the democratic history of India. It has broken all past records and given overwhelming majority to AAP, a new party which won 94 per cent of total seats, 67 out of 70. It has stopped the continuous victory march of BJP. The near sweeping victory of BJP in the general elections 2014 and its continuance in the assembly elections of Jharkhand, Haryana, Maharashtra and Jammu & Kashmir are great achievements of the party and its chief architect Narendra Modi.
But as soon as Modi took reigns, his supporters and party members started irresponsible acts of communal disharmony like ‘home coming’, ‘love jihad’, communal riots, destruction of religious places of minorities, particularly of Christians. They also used to make irresponsible statements about India as ‘Hindu Rashtra’, ‘bringing minorities into the fold of Hindu religion’ and others. These acts and statements created a bad impression within the country as well as abroad.
In 2013 AAP formed the government in Delhi under the leadership of Kejriwal with the help of Congress and remained in power only for 49 days. During this short period Kejriwal fulfilled some of his promises by reducing the cost of electricity and water. He also took measures to combat corruption and bribe.
Though AAP could not establish any significant mark in general elections 2014, Kejriwal understood the public fervour and realised his fault. He tendered apology to the people time and again and demanded fresh election. He had been in touch with the people particularly with ‘common man’ by campaigning for combating corruption, promising clean administration and providing basic necessities at the lowest cost.
Delhi is the heart of India. Being the capital city, people of different religions, castes, creeds, languages, cultures and regions live here. They face acute problems in satisfying daily needs. The major problems of Delhi people are electricity, water, education and communication. Kejriwal concentrated on these problems and assured them of better facilities. People of Delhi responded positively and considered AAP the best alternative to bring about the desired change.
After the declaration of the date for Delhi election, Kejriwal along with his team made personal contact with the people, held road shows and meetings and assured the people to reduce the costs of electricity and water, provide the poor with houses, open new schools and colleges and remove corruption. In the meantime, the enthusiastic supporters of BJP and RSS initiated communal conflict, justified the forceful conversion of Muslims and Christians into the Hindu fold, pleaded it under the garb of ‘home coming’, declared that the country is only for Hindus and burned churches. Attack on the Muslim community was common but its extension to Christians by burning churches and bringing them into the fold of Hindu religion attracted the attention of the international community and had widespread repercussion. Even the Hindu elite had not taken it in good taste.
The other important event was bringing a senior retired Police Officer and social activist Kiran Bedi into the arena of election. BJP, as a political strategy, brought her in its fold and declared her as the party’s chief ministerial candidate. This undoubtedly astonished the political parties as well as the electorate. It was thought that she, as a capable officer and an active member of Anna Hazare’s team, will influence Delhi electorate and turn the political situation in favour of BJP. If BJP comes to power, she will administer Delhi properly and deliver the maximum good. Unfortunately, this did not happen. It created unhappiness among the members of the party and antagonistic impression among the masses.
Bedi began to praise Modi and his party. This gave the impression that she can do anything if she gets the privilege. Otherwise, the image of IAS and IPS officers is not good among the masses. They inherited the British legacy and projected the image of an ‘officer’ (during the British rule) and not of ‘public servant’ of an independent country. They are considered more as bosses rather than helpers of public, particularly of the poor.
Further, there was burning news that Modi wore a suit, the cost of which was Rs. 10 lakh when the President Obama visited Delhi. People did not take it in good taste because they believe in ‘simple living and high thinking’. It also showed that Modi was gradually breaking his relation with the common man and associating with affluent persons. Moreover, it was considered extravagant burden on the Indian exchequer. However, when the date of election came near, certain issues were very prominent and influenced the decision and pattern of voting.
COMMUNAL HARMONY
Delhi people were very much concerned with the mosaic culture of India. They did not appreciate the actions of enthusiastic supporters of BJP and RSS to disturb the communal harmony in the city by initiating conflict and tension between different communities on petty matters. Communal disturbances were not common in Delhi, but they used to occur frequently since BJP came in power. The BJP workers drew the wrong conclusion from the general elections 2014 that they got the majority of seats in parliament due to the ‘Hindu factor’ while the fact was that they got the majority of seats due to the division of secular votes. The result is that they are always trying to make ‘Hindu factor’ alive by making statements, demanding conversion to Hindu fold, initiating conflict and injuring the feelings and sentiments of minorities. A majority of people did not like this tendency. They want to live in peace. Sincere persons consider these things harmful for the prosperity and development of the nation. They do not like the Police to arrest innocent persons and implicate them in different crimes. Minorities were very sore, frustrated and afraid with these incidents. They thought that these incidents would increase if BJP comes to power. It is necessary to stop the victory march of BJP for their peaceful living. The best alternative for them was AAP, and they supported it vehemently.
ELECTRICITY AND WATER AT LOW PRICE
AAP promised the people to provide basic necessities at low cost. The important among them are water and electricity. The companies concerned take high profit and supply electricity at high cost. It is a heavy burden on common man, particularly the poor. AAP promised to reduce the cost of electricity to relieve the poor of this burden. Other political parties also promised to reduce the cost of electricity, but people had no confidence in them because till now they did not fulfil their promises and did not make any effort in this direction. Contrary to it, AAP during its 49 days rule reduced the price and also fulfilled some of its promises made to the people. People of Delhi were confident that AAP was committed to the wellbeing of the people and it will fulfil its promises.
COMBATING CORRUPTION
Corruption is rampant in almost every aspect of our administrative structure. In government offices, the person concerned considers it his right to demand money to do the required work. It is so common that it is known as ‘facilitation fee’ without which it is difficult to get one’s work done. Everybody knows it but they cannot eradicate it. If one dares to complain, nobody takes action. If one refuses to pay bribe, he has to go through a long process during which he has to spend a lot of money and even then it is not sure that his work will be done.
In this process the poor are more sufferers because they cannot afford to satisfy the demand of the officers who are more interested to snatch money from the pockets of others rather than to perform their duties sincerely. AAP is the only party that took the matter seriously and put restraint on officers. It publicly asked the public to give money to the officer who demands but report on a particular phone number; the government will take action immediately. This frightened the officers who for the time being stopped demanding money. The common man was happy with this. They thought the same act would be repeated if they bring AAP to power.
UNITY OF SECUALR VOTES
The most important factor that brought victory to AAP is the unity of non-BJP or secular voters. In the general elections many parties and candidates contest the election even for one seat. The result is that secular votes split up into different parts and fail to get winning majority. People of Delhi realised it and tried their best to utilise their votes for the best purpose. Delhi electorate was divided in three major groups. One was the supporter of BJP; the second was the supporter of AAP and a chunk of voters was not the supporter of these parties but they wanted BJP not to come to power. They constituted the third group consisted of different minor groups which had sympathy with other parties and candidates but they had strong motive to defeat BJP. They thought that the supporters of BJP and RSS would go wild if BJP comes to power. They would pollute the peaceful atmosphere of Delhi by their communal fervour.
Delhi people had witnessed the burning of churches. They wanted to put restraint on these types of activities which defamed the religion as well as the country. Same was the case with the Congress party which suffered the most in this election. Most of the supporters of the Congress tilted to AAP because of the weak position of Congress. They thought that to cast vote in favour of Congress is to bring BJP to power because votes would be split and BJP would get its advantage. Congress was weak; as such its supporters as well as other neutral voters went to AAP. The result is that AAP candidates won their respective seats with big majority. The three constituencies where BJP candidates won, the position of the Congress was better than the rest. In these constituencies Congress performance was quite better. This shows that the unity of secular votes played a decisive role in the victory of AAP.
It was, in fact, the political acumen of Delhi electorate who were not influenced by emotions and sentiments but applied their mind and decided rationally what would be beneficial in the present situation. They were fed up by the undesirable and unpleasant expression of communal fervour that created hatred among communities and challenged the integrity of the nation. On the other hand, they also decided to give another chance to AAP with majority to administer the affairs of Delhi and fulfil the aspiration of the common man.