In Delhi, people say AAP could not connect with voters
People of Delhi have chosen the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to govern the national capital. The party has won 48 of the Delhi Assembly’s 70 seats to AAP’s 22. The Congress failed to win a single seat, continuing a trend that started in 2015.
BJP leaders credited the party’s win in Delhi, coming to power after more than 25 years. While the former Chief Minister of Delhi accepted his defeat in a video, people of Delhi had mixed reactions to AAP’s loss.
Maktoob spoke to people of Delhi from different constituencies to understand voters’ reactions to the result. While many were unhappy with AAP’s defeat, there was a positive mood towards the party’s loss rather than BJP coming to power.
Suyash Tripathi, a resident of Laxmi Nagar, said that the people were not able to connect with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) anymore.
BJP has won in Laxmi Nagar constituency for the second time. “I believe that this defeat will result in the rise of a different AAP. And the difference will be that this time AAP will consist of leaders in the second row who were getting recognition for their work. The face of Arvind Kejriwal was no longer relevant in Delhi politics,” he said.
While he did not support BJP, Tripathi believes there were many factors for AAP’s loss.
“Noting that the government in the state and the Centre is the same, the Chief Minister of Delhi is finally going to have actual power, which has been taken by the LG,” he added.
BJP’s Abhay Verma won by more than 11,500 votes against AAP’s BB Tyagi.
Aneeza, a resident of Chhatarpur, meanwhile, said that the election results were very disappointing. “The BJP’s victory in the Delhi election is deeply disappointing and frustrating for me. Their governance approach doesn’t align with the vision I had for a better Delhi,” she said.
There was quite a close competition in the Chhatarpur constituency, with BJP’s Kartar Singh Tanwar winning by merely 6,239 votes against AAP’s Brahm Singh Tanwar.
Kartar Singh Tanwar had left AAP in July 2020, when Kejriwal was jailed. At the time, he had said he was leaving AAP because of the party’s “dictatorship.”
Tanwar’s exit was a big setback for AAP. He had won from the constituency both in 2015 and 2020 when he contested from AAP.
Experts believe the middle-class vote to be a driving force behind BJP’s win. With countless promises of development failing, people felt the need for change, according to political analysts.
Development failures, air pollution, and cleaning the Yamuna became some of the issues ahead of the polls, with all three major contestants relying on election freebies to make their pitch.
While BJP and AAP had a close fight, Congress was a distant third. However, people close to the party said that there was resentment towards AAP as it refused to contest elections with the grand old party.
While there were predictions of BJP’s win, for many, it has come as a shock. Ayesha, a resident of Jamia, shared her resentment towards BJP winning the elections.
“I am scared that life might become more challenging for Muslims and atrocities towards the community might rise. But I can only pray for peace for everyone at the moment,” she added.
Although AAP was able to retain Okhla constituency with Amanatullah Khan winning by 23,639 votes against BJP’s Manish Chaudhary and AIMIM’s candidate Shifa Ur Rehman, who came in third despite contesting the elections from prison.
A close aide of Youth Congress has meanwhile alleged that the results were fudged.
“Election results were already fixed. Everyone knew a day before the results that BJP was coming. Everything was fixed with the help of the Election Commission. The same thing happened in Haryana,” the member said.
They added that Congress was expecting at least two seats. “It is unfortunate,” they said.
However, inside the party, there was already buzz that Congress might not be able to regain its past glory even this time.
In Mustafabad, meanwhile, BJP’s Mohan Singh Bisht won by 17,578 votes against AAP’s Adeel Ahmad Khan.
There was a lot of buzz about vote-cutting for AAP, and many felt this might be the reason for their loss, considering the margin wasn’t too big.
Nisar Khan, a resident of Mustafabad, told Maktoob that the result was very predictable. “AAP losing was on the charts mostly because of Kejriwal’s arrogance. At least he would now know that he cannot take the voters lightly,” Khan said.
Bisht’s victory has not sat well with the people, especially the Muslim community. “We will patiently wait and see what happens now. It would have been such an easy win if AAP and Congress had fought together,” he added.
This time, the elections saw the politics of freebies winning. The elections also saw communal statements and politics coming into play.
Jagisha Arora, a Delhi-based journalist, felt the middle-class voting pattern made a major impact in these elections. “I think BJP came to power because the freebies politics was actually favourable. Plus, AAP saw the alcohol and corruption scandal. I don’t think people were attracted to anything AAP had to offer,” she said.
The fact that BJP will keep retaining the policies of AAP shows that the politics of freebies was successful in Delhi.
Saroj Kumari, a resident of Dwarka, meanwhile, is happy that BJP has come to power. “I wanted Modi to win,” she smiled.
On asking what factors attracted people towards the party, Kumari said that they looked at the bigger picture.
“AAP did things, but Modi is doing so much for the country, and there was a need to bring that into Delhi as well,” she added.
