Delhi Elections: A Landslide For AAP, A 'Capital' Punishment for The BJP

The Aam Admi Party (AAP) has won 67 out of the 70 seats in Delhi assembly elections today. The results have not just amazed the opposition parties and different political analysts, but it has pleasantly surprised the AAP as well.

The BJP has shrunk to just 3 seats form 32 in the previous elections. The Congress party could not manage to win a single seat.

Arvind Kejriwal, the chief of AAP has described their victory as 'people's victory' and has said that the top priority of the new government would be 'ending bribery' in the capital.

Before today's results, the degree of Modi's popularity was somewhat considered to be a force that was invincible. In May, Modi became the first PM to have come to power with a clear cut majority in 30 years.

After coming to power at the center, Modi won four state elections on the trot, and has not tasted failure until now.  

The AAP has not just won 95% of the total seats; it has managed to gather 54% of the total voted in the states. The vote share of the BJP has remained somewhat unchanged at around 32%. 

This gigantic victory of the Aam Admi Party will definitely affect the BJP's prospects in the coming state elections.

Graphic Source: Election Commission of India

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Delhi Elections: Early Trends Indicate A Landslide Victory For AAP, BJP Trounced, Congress Wiped Out

If the early counting trends are to be trusted, the Aam Admi Party is in for a landslide victory in Delhi. The AAP is leading from 66 seats, while the BJP is languishing at 3, the INC is leading on one seat.

On one hand these trends are heart rending for the BJP, while on the other, they have surprised the AAP as well.

Opinion polls and exit polls were predicting a clear cut majority for the AAP, but no one ever predicted this kind of mandate.

These results will definitely dent the confidence of the BJP, a party that never tasted defeat after getting to power at the center in the general elections last year.

While BJP suffers a huge loss, the Congress is virtually wiped out from the capital city.     

Graphic Source: Election Commission of India

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Kejriwal Set To Get Majority In Delhi: Exit Polls

All the top exit polls conducted in the national capital Delhi are indicating that AAP led by  Arvind Kejriwal is heading towards a full majority in the state assembly.

Top exit poll agencies like Nielsen, C-Voter, Cicero, News Nation, Axis APM, and Today's Chanakya are projecting AAP to win in excess of 40 seats, a comfortable number to form a government.

BJP's CM candidate Kiran Bedi termed the exit poll trends as incomplete and incomprehensive, "This is based on data till 3 pm. Let us not accept it as final, " she said.

Voter turnout in Delhi today was around 69%, a number higher than last year's general elections or 2013's assembly elections. 

If the AAP comes to power in the state, it will be a first major setback for the BJP after it came to power at the center last year in May.

AAP's victory in Delhi will give Kejriwal an opportunity to avenge himself on PM Modi, who trounced him in the general elections; both contested the election from Varanasi constituency. Most of the political pundits were touting this assembly election as Modi vs Kejriwal and not as Kejriwal vs Kiran Bedi.

Delhi assembly election was(and still is ) a question of existence for the Aam Admi Party, while for the BJP, it was a question of keeping the Modi wave alive before the vital Bihar assembly elections.   

BJP, in its vigorous poll campaign, mostly concentrated on counting the achievements of the Modi government at the center and criticizing Kejriwal and AAP. On the other hand, AAP's campaign hovered mostly around some very populist promises like free Wi-Fi, subsidized electricity and water bills, and homes for the slum dwellers.

The results for the elections will come out on 10 February.  

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Delhi Polls: The Final Show Down Begins

Delhi Polls: The Final Show Down Begins

Voting is under way for the much talked-about Delhi assembly elections, which is touted as the first real test of PM Modi's popularity wave.

Polling started at 8 in the morning. Initially the polling was on the slower side, but after a couple of hours later as the sun came out, the polling picked up speed. Around 36% voting happened till 1 PM.

Delhi has around 13 million eligible voters who can cast their votes at 12000 thousand polling stations in the capital city. To take care of any security concern, around 55000 para-military personnel have been deputed here along with the Delhi Police.

Both the AAP and the BJP are fighting for the throne in Delhi. The Congress party, which ruled the state for 15 consecutive years till 2013, is conspicuously lagging behind the two mentioned parties.    

   

In the meanwhile, BJP's New Delhi candidate Nupur Sharma - fighting the election against the AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal- has alleged that the AAP workers have manhandled her sister near Sangli booth; AAP has refuted the allegation and called it baseless and politically motivated.

Both the CM candidates Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal are fighting a close battle this time as almost all the opinion polls have termed the Delhi assembly elections as a neck-to-neck fight.

The results will be announced on 10 February.     

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Opinion Polls Indicate A Simple Majority For The Aam Admi Party

An opinion poll yesterday has revealed that the political preference of Delhi is changing from BJP to AAP for the coming assembly elections. The Aam Admi Party could garner a majority in the house if the elections were held right now.

The opinion poll has forecasted around 36-40 seats for the Aam Admi Party, while the BJP has been projected to win around 28-30 seats. The capital city will be going to the polls on 7 February and the results will be declared on 10 February. 

The move of bringing Kiran Bedi into the party and making her the Chief Ministerial candidate of BJP to counter the anti-corruption facet of Arvind Kejriwal seems to have backfired big time. The move has not just made the voters skeptical but it has given rise to the voices of dissent in the party organization in Delhi as well.  

The opinion poll depicts Kejriwal as the most preferred choice of the people of Delhi for the CM's post with 54% vote share.

One another opinion poll conducted by a reputed agency gives 35 seats to AAP and around 29 seats to the BJP.

The political analysts are of the opinion that this huge shift in the momentum - BJP was expected to win with a landslide majority six months ago -has occurred largely due to the delay of six to eight months in conducting the elections in Delhi.

The friends-turned-foes (Bedi and Kejriwal) are leaving no stone unturned to gain an upper hand in their respective poll campaigns.

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Another Church Attacked In Delhi Just Five Days Ahead Of Assembly Polls

Just five days ahead of the Delhi assembly elections, vandals have ransacked a church in South Delhi's Vasant Kunj area today; this is the fifth incident of such kind since December last year. 

Members of the St Alphonsa's church have told the media that around three in the morning a bunch of vandals jumped in the premises of the church and broke opened the main gate. They kept ransacking the church for some time before they ran away.  

In January, three people were arrested for vandalizing a church in West Delhi's Vikaspuri area. They were arrested on the basis of the CCTV footage provided by the church. 

Delhi's Archbishop Anil JT Couto has told the reporters, "A clear pattern of orchestrated attacks is emerging as more and more churches are targeted, vandalized and set on fire."

The police have informed that there is no evidence of the arrested people having any connection with any of the extremist outfits.

A church in the Rohini area was arsoned in January earlier. The Christmas crib placed outside the building was burned to ashes. Some arsonists set fire to St Sebastian's Church in East Delhi's Dilshad Garden; traces of kerosene have been found inside the church premises.

Various Christian organizations have protested against these kinds of offensives. The issue of religious intolerance towards the Christian community has been raised in the Parliament as well.  The Home minister Rajnath Singh has ordered a special team to investigate the incident.

Experts and social scientists are not denying the seeds of religious polarization as the pools are going to be held in the capital city in five days. 

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Anna Hazare Threatens A Movement Against The Modi Government

Social activist and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has blamed the BJP and the Modi government of not fulfilling the promise that they made during their run-up to the last year's General Elections.  

"It is clear that PM Modi is not serious about fighting corruption. In eight months, the government has not given any priority to corruption and there has been no progress on the Lokpal law. We are gathering people for a movement," the septuagenarian told the media.

When asked about forming a team with new faces he preferred to keep mum on Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal, who were the two most prominent faces of the erstwhile 'Team Anna'. The Team Anna was the principal figure in the India Against Corruption movement in the year 2011. 

"Ekla Chalo Re," he quoted Tagore. "I don't need Kiran Bedi or Arvind Kejriwal. I have the public with me. Why should I be upset at not having a team?" he said. The veteran public-leader has conspicuously distanced himself from both Ms Bedi and Mr Kejriwal, who have managed to emerge as two political faces of Delhi. 

"Let Delhi decide whether to choose Kiran or Arvind. Why drag me into the muck?" Anna Hazare said.

Sources say that Kiran Bedi's joining the BJP has seriously aggrieved Hazare, and he has reportedly refused to even take her calls. 

"Any Indian citizen can contest elections. The Constitution does not say that a person has to subscribe to any party or view. It is because of party politics that the country has suffered," said Hazare with a tone of sadness.

Polls will be held in Delhi on 7 February and the result will be out on 10 February. 

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Mayawati's BSP To Contest All 70 Seats In Delhi

BSP will fight from all 70 seats in the coming Delhi Assembly elections. The former UP CM and BSP President Mayawati has told the media today in Lucknow. "I am starting the election campaign for the Delhi Vidhan Sabha elections today... our party would contest all the 70 seats on our own," she said.

Mayawati is celebrating her 59th birthday today as the 'People's Welfare Day'.Criticizing the BJP she said that after misleading the people of the nation with their achche din slogan, the party will now try to cajole the Delhi folks.



"Dalits, backward castes, and others should know that central government, without making arrangement of quotas in the private sector, have started giving important works to the private sector belonging to capitalists, resulting in these sections getting very little benefit of reservation", she said.

She was equally vitriolic towards AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, she said, "he has gone a step ahead of BJP and is the votary of ending reservation and has also given statements in this direction."

She further said, "With BJP and AAP at the helm, the minorities, including poor muslims as well as poor among the upper castes, would not get their rightful place in education and jobs."

The BSP could not manage to get a single seat in the previous assembly elections in 2013. The Party was completely wiped out in the general elections in 2014, it could not win a seat in UP, which is its stronghold.

The Delhi assembly elections will be held on 7 February and the results will come out on 10 February.

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Kiran Bedi, Jaya Prada May Soon Join BJP, Decision On Shazia Ilmi Pending

Kiran Bedi, Jaya Prada May Soon Join BJP, Decision On Shazia Ilmi Pending

If media sources are to be trusted, former police officer and social worker Kiran Bedi is expected to join the BJP today. However, the induction of actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada hasn't yet been finalized.

 The rumor market is abuzz with the speculation of BJP fielding Kiran or Jaya, a former SP MP, against the AAP supremo Arvind Karriwal from the New Delhi constituency in the coming assembly elections.




 Though, the former AAP member Shazia Ilmi has denied the rumors of her joining the BJP, and contesting the elections against her former boss. It should be noted that the journalist-turned-politician might not have joined the BJP but has shared platforms with the party leaders and is expected to canvass for the party.

Was invited to speak at the National Defence College .Cdnt take media calls. Im not contesting from New Delhi or elsewhere Calm down folks
— shazia ilmi (@shaziailmi) January 14, 2015

Meanwhile, Jaya Prada says that she has been in contact with the BJP think tank for some time and now is ready to join the party. Ms Bedi has not opened her cards yet. She tweeted:

Delhi and Delhites do not deserve this kind of prolonged negativity. The Capital needs integrity wisdom,experience,vision and implementation
— Kiran Bedi (@thekiranbedi) January 15, 2015

Kiran Beadi the first Indian female IPS officer and a prominent member of the erstwhile team Anna, showed her political inclinations towards BJP when Modi announced his arrival at the national level with a thumping majority. It needs to be emphasized that Kejriwal was also a team Anna member, but preferred to part ways with Anna over the issue of launching a political party to which Anna was sternly averse.

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Dates For Delhi Assembly Elections Out, Voting On 7th February, Counting On 10th

Assemble elections will be held in Delhi on February 7 and counting will be done on 10th of the same month, the Election Commission chief VS Sampath has informed the media today.

He further said that the model code of conduct for all the 70 seats comes into existence with immediate effect.

This election is being seen as a bilateral fight to get to supremacy in the country capital between a resurgent BJP, which has recently won four states back-to-back, and AAP, which is banking on the charisma of Arvind Kejriwal.

In 2013 elections no single party could garner a clear-cut majority. BJP, though, emerged as the single largest party, but it could not form a government. AAP, which came second with 28 seats, formed a government with the help of Congress; Arvind Kejriwal became the seventh CM. But Kejriwal resigned after 49 days of becoming the CM following the failure to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed. President's rule was imposed in Delhi in February 2014.

Experts are of the opinion that Congress is no where in the competition in Delhi. 

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Will Provide 24x7 Electricity, Kejriwal An Anarchist: PM Modi Starts BJP's Election Campaign In Delhi

Will Provide 24x7 Electricity, Kejriwal An Anarchist: PM Modi Starts BJP's Election Campaign In Delhi

PM Modi kick-started BJP's election campaign in Delhi today from Ramlila Maidan by promising the Capital state 24x7 power supply and homes to the slum dwellers.

"If we come to power, we will rid the city of generators and the poisonous gases...wil give 24x7 electricity, " the PM said. This was not all, he also promised that the Delhi people will soon be allowed to chooses their power suppliers as we choose our mobile service providers on the basis of their cost effectivity. He argued that the competition among the companies would cut the price down hence the end users will benefit.

The CMs of Haryana, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand were felicitated for their respective victories in the assembly election last year. Many of Modi's cabinet colleagues were also there along with the BJP President Amit Shah.  

Taking a dig at Arvind Kejriwal, the PM asked his audience - at least 25-30 thousand people were there- “have you ever seen a leader who says, 'yes I am an anarchist,' let then do dharnas and all those kinds of things, give reins of power to." 

The BJP has not been able to come to power in Delhi for the past 16 years. Delhi BJP head Satish Upadhayay said that the party is pretty confident to sweep the election this time.

Delhi assembly election was held on 4 December 2013, in which no political party could gather a clear majority. Arvind Kejriwal managed to form a government with support from Congress; but he resigned after ruling for 49 days following the failure of the introduction of Delhi's Jan Lokpal Bill.

Fresh elections will be held in late January and/or early February 2015.

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AAP's Legal Notice To BJP Over Funding Accusations

The Aam Admi Party has sent a legal notice to the BJP for leveling false charges of illegal fund raising. The notice that has been sent to South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri and Delhi BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay, asks both the gentlemen to respond within seven days and if they don’t, a criminal defamation case would be filed against the duo. The notice goes on the behalf of AAP general secretary Pankaj Gupta.

AAP's Legal Notice To BJP Over Funding Accusations 

"Due to lack of transparency, the common man is wondering whether donation is being received at the rate of Rs 20,000 per plate or the funds of NGOs, which belonged to AAP leaders, are being diverted,"  Ramesh Bidhuri has said earlier this month in a press meet. Mr Bidhuri has also urged the AAP to bring to light the names of such persons who attended and donated for the party in such programs.

Reacting vehemently to the press meet, the AAP supremo Arving Kejriwal had threatened legal actions himself.

"The conference that you held, it is clear that not only you intend to defame my client but also to illegally and mischievously deter various persons and organisations to fund and support my client and its leaders causing set back to my client in the electoral field," the notice said.

Former IBN 7 editor and senior AAP leader Ashutosh has said that the system for funding for the Aam Admi Party is fairly transparent and any accusation against the same is sheer fallacy. Ashutosh, AAP's Delhi convener also urged the BJP to reveal the sources of its own funding.

It should be noted that this kind of allegations and counter allegations should be seen as a dress rehearsal for Delhi assembly election that is going to take place early next year. 

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