For the political parties and people of Delhi, the most keenly awaited lok Sabha polls results will be more than who will form the next Government at the Centre. The election results on Friday will not only decide the fate of the major political parties — BJP, Congress and AAP; it assumes greater significance as the outcome will have a direct bearing on the prospects of re-election to Delhi Assembly in near future. With exit poll opinions predicting a comfortable victory for the BJP, the party is hopeful of a clean sweep clinching all seven seats in the national Capital. If the BJP manages to score 7-0, it will be a re-run of the 1999 lok Sabha poll results where the BJP, under leadership of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had won all seven constituencies. In the subsequent elections in 2004, the BJP could only manage to win the South Delhi seat and ended up losing all seats to the Congress in 2009 elections.
The election results in Delhi would also be a reflector of people’s acceptance for the ruling Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, which suffered a significant decline in its popularity following its 49-day poor show in Delhi Government. Irrespective of the tally of seats in Delhi, a fair vote share by the AAP would be a major boost to the party which is hopeful of clear majority in the future Assembly elections. For the Congress, even a single seat in the Capital will come as a counter to BJP’s claim of ‘Modi wave’ in Delhi and all across the country.
However, the voting pattern in the Capital during the April 10 elections indicated a major decline in votes to the two parties.Sources said any decision over re-election in Delhi by the future Government will depend on the vote percentage of each of the three parties as the vote share will be an indication of the party’s popularity among the voters. However, a senior BJP leader said if the party performs well and manages to form the next Government at the Centre, then it may press for early Assembly polls.
Meanwhile, the BJP leadership has advised its candidates to remain vigilant during counting of votes and not to leave counting centres before receiving the certificate. Party general secretary (organisation), Ral lal has asked the candidates to ensure there is no manipulation during counting and ask for recounting if there is any doubt.The results on Friday will decide the fate of several political bigwigs like Dr Harsh Vardhan, Meenakshi lekhi, Ramesh Bidhuri and Manoj Tiwari of the BJP and Kapil Sibal, Ajay Maken, JP Aggarwal and Sandeep Dikshit of the Congress.