Capital up for grabs

Going by the sheer number of opponents, Sheila Dikshit seems to be facing an uphill task to retain her position as the chief minister of Delhi. Dikshit would not only have to beat 24 candidates in the fray from her constituency but also overcome a two-term heavy anti-incumbency factor. She has already become the longest serving woman chief minister. If Dikshit manages to win a third term, it would be a record in the politics of the country. But the battle for Delhi is much more than breaking records and reaching personal milestones.

Delhi might be a small state holding almost an insignificant position in the country’s political map, but it commands a distinct position. Probably this is the reason why none of the political parties are taking the electoral battle lightly.  As the election juggernaut rolls, the poll process is beginning to gather pace. The BJP and the Congress have come out with the list of their candidates and the battle lines are now clearly drawn. Both the parties have retained most of the successful faces of the previous elections. There are a few contestants who would face the voters for the first time.

BJP has fielded Praveen Khandelwal from Chandni Chowk to take on Congress MLA Prahlad Singh Sawney. Khandelwal had led an agitation of traders against the sealing drive of the city government.

Among the young, former DUSU president Nakul Bhardwaj has been fielded from Patparganj by the BJP. The Congress sprang a surprise by giving a ticket to former IPS officer Amod Kanth. He is not new to the city, where he had a long stint as a police officer. The BJP has retained all the 19 sitting MLAs and left four seats to its partner Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

There is no single issue this time. The BJP is harping on national problems like inflation and terrorism while the Congress is projecting the development plank. Shiela Dikshit’s campaign managers feel that her clean image and the changing face of the city via improved infrastructure would tilt the balance in her favour. They claim that the power and water problems in the city are not as bad as they were before. There are no signs of any anger against the Congress government.

The BJP, on the other hand, is fully charged up. It is feeling confident of upstaging the Congress government and is riding on the success in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections. The BJP controls the civic body with an absolute majority. It hopes that the success in MCD would translate into a majority in the Delhi Assembly.

Sheila Dikshit is campaigning on her vikas rath (chariot of development) while her rival Vijay Kumar Malhotra is riding on the vijay rath (victory chariot). The 70 constituencies in the city would see a direct contest in most of the seats. But in some segments in Outer Delhi, the Bahajuan Samaj Party would play a critical role.

The Congress camp is confident that the anti-incumbency factor will not play a significant role as the government had performed well on all fronts. But the BJP has drawn an elaborate campaign around the rising prices of essential commodities. The BJP’s poll management is in the hands of Arun Jaitley, whose organizational skills is acknowledged even by his opponents. Jaitley is from Delhi but played a key role in BJP’s victories in other states like Karnataka and Gujarat.

The elections would throw up some interesting contests. For example, OP Babbar of the BJP is placed against his daughter-in-law Anita who is contesting on a Congress ticket. Sheila Dikshit faces 24 opponents in her New Delhi constituency while Malhotra in Greater Kailash will have to beat only 11 others.

Malhotra, who also represents South Delhi parliamentary constituency, is an old hand in Delhi politics. He is among the seniormost leaders in the BJP and saw the party grow from the grassroots along with LK Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee. He is banking on his experience to helpd the party sail through.

It is a challenge for him as this is the first time the BJP is going to the polls without Madan Lal Khurana as its mascot. For the last five decades, Khurana had dominated BJP’s politics in the city. But Khurana is now sidelined and has been reduced to a shadow of his former self after the party lost the last Assembly elections under his leadership. It remains to be seen if Malhotra would be able to fill the void.