Boom News, along with CVoter Foundation, kicked off a special #IndiaHangOut digital-only series to track the 2015 Delhi Elections. Along with polling and votes, this series is focussed on the issues and factors in play for these elections.
“A year back, the Aam Aadmi Party stormed in and won 39% of the votes in Delhi, the composition of AAP’s support base was largely anti-Congress and middle-class voters. In the May elections, which they lost, their vote share went up. There is a big change in the composition of the support base in the last six months. From primarily an anti-Congress vote, it has become an anti-BJP composition. They have added on to their vote share as compared to what they had in December,” said Yashwant Deshmukh, Managing Director and Editor of C-Voter Foundation.
In the 2013 elections, the AAP surprised everyone by winning 28 seats. More importantly, the party had stopped the BJP in its tracks, forcing it at 32 seats, 4 short of the required majority. The Congress scored only eight seats, failing to reach double digits. Moreover, it lost 35 seats, 17 each to BJP and AAP and one to SAD.
On the leadership stepping up from the various parties, Deshmukh said “It’s Arvind Kejriwal versus the vacuum. There is no other name that is being projected by the BJP or the Congress. According to all opinion polls in the past few months, the only name that pops up apart from Kejriwal is Dr. Harsh Vardhan.”
“The honeymoon period for Modi is continuing, which the recent polls are reflecting. But as far as Delhi is concerned, the USP for the voters is anti-corruption and good governance,” he added.
The polls predict a bleak future for the Indian National Congress in the capital. “The election race is becoming increasingly bi-polar, with the Congress getting decimated,” Deshmukh said.
Delhi’s importance is underlined by the fact that it is the political capital, and most of the pro- or anti-government movements in the recent past have taken place here. All these movements gain momentum due the presence of national media in Delhi. It is the confluence of all the media headquarters.
“At this point of time, it looks like a very positive campaign for the AAP. But at the same time, BJP has Modi as their leader and Prime Minister. Delhi has a very cosmopolitan population, and these elections may well be a reflection of things to come in the rest of the country in the next couple of years,” Deshmukh concluded.