Performance, not negativity, delivers victories
The Bharatiya Janata Party's resounding victory in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections came riding on three positive factors. The first is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal charisma and credibility. The second is the freshness the party brought in by introducing new candidates in a majority of the seats to combat anti-incumbency. And the third is an effective election management strategy down to the booth level. The three, taken together, ensured that the negativity surrounding the functioning of the three corporations which went to polls and were ruled by the BJP, was diluted. Cleverly enough, the BJP did not go overboard in the run-up to the elections to defend its performance, but said that many changes were desired in the functioning of the civic bodies, and that the problems would be fixed once it got a fresh mandate. While the elections are fought primarily on civic issues, other matters were influential too. With the BJP under Modi and party president Amit Shah strategising one win after the other in various parts of the country, voters in the MCD elections concluded that it was best to repose faith in a party that was on the rise and, more importantly, seen to be delivering on its promises to the middle class and the lower middle class. Steps such as the opening of Jan Dhan accounts to avail direct benefit transfers and providing cooking gas to crores of the marginalised, virtually for free, have clicked. The demonetisation decision too was projected, and successfully, by the BJP as a means to deliver a body blow to the corrupt and the hoarders of black money.
Besides the positive factors, a few negative aspects too have gone in the BJP's favour. The first is the erosion in the Aam Aadmi Party's credibility in the two years that it has ruled Delhi. People appear to have concluded that the party has failed to keep many of its essential promises of good governance. The second is the personalised campaign that AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has engaged in throughout his tenure. From abusing the Prime Minister and some of his Ministers to levelling unsubstantiated allegations, Kejriwal and his team have left no stone unturned to discredit the ruling party at the Centre and hold it responsible for their own lack of performance. The negativity was evident also in the hoardings the AAP had put up, claiming that power and water tariff would shoot up if the people voted for the BJP, and its continuing tirade against the electronic voting machines. It refuses to acknowledge that it has lost connect with the people; the Rajouri Garden by-poll result was a straw in the wind. The third is the perception among the people of Delhi that the AAP has been getting too big for its boots — instead of concentrating on Delhi it has been seeking to spread itself too thin by diverting its attention to other States such as Punjab. And the fourth negative which the BJP has befitted from is the growing disillusionment — though it may not have assumed alarming proportions as yet — within the AAP. There is simmering discontent in the party's rank and file over the cabal that surrounds Kejriwal. Meanwhile, the Congress is in the dumps as before, with no signs of revival, leave alone a return to its days of glory in Delhi.