With the dust of Assembly elections settling down and Delhi eagerly awaiting for the results, volunteers of various political parties had a relaxed Sunday after weeks of high voltage campaigning. With just over a day left before the counting on February 10, leaders of political parties thanked the volunteers and workers who had for weeks followed a strict regime.
The Congress workers also got to breathe easy after the polling was over. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Mukesh Sharma said, “I finally got to catch some sleep today. We do not have any meeting scheduled for the day. In the evening, I have to attend two weddings so it’s going to be family time.”
“In the morning, a few of us went to see if any campaign material was lying on roads in our area and threw these in dustbins. The evening is free for us to enjoy,” said Sheena, a Congress volunteer from Janakpuri constituency. Shirish Chauhan, a volunteer from Uttam Nagar, said, “I went to a nearby temple to pray for my party’s victory when the results are announced. We had no official work today.”
While it was business as usual for top BJP leaders with the party deciding to call a meeting of all the 70 candidates, including chief ministerial nominee Kiran Bedi, to review the party’s performance and discuss the political situation, party volunteers had their share of rest and enjoyment for the day. “Morning was relatively free but in evening the meeting has been scheduled... For volunteers and other party workers we have no official plan today,” said BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay.
“No more rounds to the local party offices to get campaign material. No more taking care of party flags and caps. We did our best to see Bedi win. She even acknowledged our support. It feels like exams are over,” said Tahir Abbas, a BJP volunteer from Jangpura. While the BJP workers worked hard in an attempt to maintain its winning streak after the party’s victory in lok Sabha elections and in Haryana and Maharashtra, the AAP which had thrown a surprise for everyone with its performance in the last Delhi polls is eyeing a majority on its own this time. The Congress also sweated it out to make a comeback after it received severe drubbing in the 2013 polls.