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Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January. The former journalist took on former Union minister Kapil Sibal and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in the national election from Chandni Chowk in Delhi.)
It is intriguing to probe why the BJP has not been able to gather the courage to face the people of Delhi and go for elections. The BJP has made four major backdoor attempts to form the government in the capital in the last few months and every time it failed miserably.
The BJP knows that like the rest of India, the people of Delhi are also looking for a change from corrupt, manipulative, self-serving traditional politics. The new awakened India is demanding a certain commitment and freshness. Modi's rise is a reflection of that changed psychological mindset.
In Haryana, where the BJP was a fringe player and had never won more than six assembly seats, it has gained an absolute majority on its own. It's a mind-blowing performance. In Maharashtra, the BJP was seen as No. 4 on the power list, but this time, it has gained 123 seats and is all set to form the government.
In Haryana, people wanted to remove the corrupt Congress. The INLD, led by the Chautala clan, was equally discredited with both father and son in jail. Other small parties don't have a better track record either. Thanks to Modi, the BJP promised hope and a break.
Similarly, in Maharashtra, voters wanted to throw out the Congress-NCP combine. The Shiv Sena is still rooted in the past and failed to offer any hope to new India and could not earn the confidence of the voters. The BJP offered new, clean and young leadership. The Modi magic worked once again.
But unlike Haryana and Maharashtra, Delhi is a different pitch altogether.
The emergence of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi was the first indication of the country looking for a change. People are fed up with discredited politics. AAP brought that change which people were looking for with its simplicity, honesty, transparency, integrity and commitment to clean politics. AAP was seen as a crusader against everything which was wrong with Indian politics. So people voted for them and the discredited Congress suddenly disappeared from the scene after ruling for 15 years. Despite Arvind Kejriwal's resignation from the post of Chief Minister, nobody can question AAP's commitment to clean politics.
In Delhi, the BJP invariably will be compared to AAP and in the public mind space, AAP will always be a better option. The Modi magic worked in Haryana and Maharashtra because in these states, the BJP was the least discredited party, but the same does not hold true for Delhi.
Here, the BJP will still represents traditional politics and it did not help itself by trying to form a government through manipulation. AAP, though it has to answer many questions , draws huge goodwill.
There is no denying the fact that Delhi traditionally has been a strong hold of the BJP, thanks to stalwarts like Madan Lal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma, Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Kedar Nath Sahni. But it also has to be understood that despite its best efforts, it was unable to dislodge the Congress for fifteen years, and now the BJP does not have a strong leader. After the promotion of Harsh Vardhan as central cabinet minister, the BJP is suffering from a serious leadership crisis in the capital.
Perhaps that is why the BJP is reluctant to avoid elections. If not, let's play. AAP is ready.
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