The semi-final contest between the BJP and the Congress before the grand finale of 2014 is being be held in the national Capital on Wednesday. Nearly 1.19 crore voters will decide the fate of 810 candidates for the 70 Assembly seats.
Sheila Dikshit’s 15-year-long rule appears to be on a sticky wicket as the main Opposition BJP has left no stone unturned this time. Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in the race, thanks to its own surveys, however the reality check has yielded a totally different story. The galvanised BJP, under the leadership of its chief ministerial candidate Dr Harsh Vardhan and aided by the Modi wave, appears all set to wrest the control of Players’ Building.
The strong mood against the Congress could be judged by the very fact that none of the Union Ministers campaigned in the city fearing further erosion of support as people are angry with the UPA’s abject handling of inflation and price rise. The situation was so grim that the Prime Minister’s rally was postponed as Delhi Pradesh Congress leaders were not sure of bringing enough crowd to the rally venue. Party vice-president Rahul Gandhi addressed just two rallies while Congress president Sonia Gandhi addressed a rally in the Muslim dominated area of North-east Delhi.
Narendra Modi spearheaded the BJP campaign as he addressed five well-attended rallies. The response of the people in the traditional Congress stronghold of Sultanpuri and Ambedkar Nagar was seen by political analysts as precursor to the 2014 elections. Out of 70 constituencies, there are 20 Assembly segments that could be termed as VVIP seats.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is locked in a fierce three-cornered fight from New Delhi constituency which she had won thrice in the past. AAP’s convener Arvind Kejriwal and BJP’s former state president Vijender Gupta are already claiming victories. Surveys too indicated the anti-incumbency mood and the anger of the voters against her. However, Congressmen say that despite all odds, Sheila will win her seat.
Her main opponent for the throne of the Chief Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is sitting pretty in Krishna Nagar seat. The suave ENT specialist is contesting for the fifth time in row, having won on four earlier occasions from there. Another interesting fight is being witnessed at Hari Nagar seat where former BJP Minister and four terms MlA HS Balli is contesting on the Congress ticket.
BJP’s Shyam Sunder Sharma is posing a stiff challenge. The adjoining Rajouri Garden seat is set to witness a bitter contest between SAD candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Congress’ Dhanvantari Chandeela.Ministers in the Sheila cabinet Raj Kumar Chauhan is testing his luck from Mangolpuri, Arvinder Singh lovely from Gandhi Nagar, Dr AK Walia from lakshmi Nagar, Dr Kiran Walia from Malviya Nagar, Rama Kant Goswami from Rajinder Nagar, and Haroun Yusuf from Balli Maran. All of them are locked in a fierce fight.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Dr Yoganand Shastri is sweating it out against BJP’s Pravesh Verma, the son of former Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma. While the Congress is seeking support from the voters in the name of progress and speed, the BJP is counting on the promises of reducing inflation and bringing down the food price index, eradicating corruption, providing houses for the JJ clusters and covering all under the umbrella of insurance.