Irrespective of the result of the Assembly polls, Sunday will go down in the history of Delhi politics. The poll results in favour of the BJP would end its 15-year exile in the national Capital while a majority to the ruling Congress would pave its way for the record fourth successive term in Government.
Just ahead of the D-day, the BJP sounded confident of winning a clear majority in the Assembly, even as the debutant Aam Aadmi Party too exuded hopes of forming the next Government in the Capital. The AAP is banking primarily on the post-poll predictions that said it could impact the poll results significantly.
However, all surveys have unanimously projected that the BJP will either get a majority or emerge as the single-largest party. At the same time, the Congress, unfazed by the exit polls and the anti-incumbency factor, is also hopeful of the party’s fair performance. However, the party has kept its fingers crossed till the results are declared.
The counting of votes for all 70 constituencies will start in the morning at 8 on Sunday. It is expected that trends will begin emerging after two-three rounds of counting and results for all Assembly seats are likely to be declared by the afternoon. Counting will be held at 14 centres across the city. The election to the 70-member Delhi Assembly assumes greater significance as this would set the tone and tenor for the forthcoming General Elections in the summer of 2014.
However, the trends emerging after exit polls surveys have left poll pundits puzzled as the elections in the city turned into a triangular contest with the appearance of Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP. The prevailing confusion even compelled leaders of all political parties to indulge in calculations and re-assessment of the possible outcome on Wednesday.
The focus in this election remained on the voters’ support for AAP, while the BJP stole the limelight with its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi campaigning extensively to mobilise the voters in support of the saffron brigade. Modi addressed five back-to-back rallies in all parts of the Capital while his grand rally on
September 29 had drawn massive crowd that also set the mood of the elections. While the Congress struggled to get listeners to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Dakshinpuri; thousands thronged the same venue where Modi addressed his last rally. To corner the Congress over charges of corruption, price rise and lack of infrastructure, the BJP annointed Dr Harsh Vardhan, a longstanding BJP legislator with a clean image and approved track record as Delhi’s Health Minister, as its candidate for the post of Chief Minister. The elections results will also be a test of whether the BJP could manage to convert the public support into votes.
Same is the case with the AAP, which has been claiming to have garnered the support of the common man. Mocking all pre-poll surveys, the leaders of AAP even claimed that the party will secure majority of seats to form the Government on its own. Till a year ago, no other political party was considered a serious threat to these veteran outfits as others--BSP, lJP and NCP are confined to their traditional vote bank.
The electorate of Delhi started discussing and thinking beyond the Congress and BJP and the presence of the AAP was palpable across the city on the day of polling too. A sizeable population of the city-- from posh South Delhi colonies to service class or slum dwellers-- looked at AAP as the knight in shining armour.