FPJ Edit: AAP front-runner in Delhi

Delhi is a B-class State, but what happens here carries a disproportionately high weight in national politics. A fresh Assembly election is now scheduled for early next month. And as of now, the outgoing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is well-placed to win another five-year term. A combination of factors make the AAP boss a front-runner. One, he has always had his gaze set on re-election, dishing out all manner of freebies from water, electricity, provision of basic civic services in illegal colonies which account for nearly half the electorate of over 1.2 crores. More importantly, he has constantly blown his own trumpet, vastly exaggerating the good work the government may be doing. As a master manipulator for whom no lie or subterfuge is beneath his dignity, Kejriwal has outwitted the main Opposition parties. The Congress anyway ceded its vote-bank of Muslims and jhuggi-jhoprin dwellers to AAP in 2013-14, when a scheming Kejriwal exploited the Anna Hazare anti-corruption platform to get himself a political outfit. As for the BJP, its biggest handicap is the lack of a charismatic local leader. It retains its 30-plus per cent base but due to the complete collapse of the Congress, in a direct contest against the street-smart AAP, it is at a disadvantage. Because the Assembly elections are fought on local issues, Modi despite trying does not always compensate for the shortcomings of the local party units, Jharkhand being the latest case in point.

Read Also

Kejriwal to retain Delhi's crown; IANS-CVoter survey predicts 59 seats for AAP