Delhi is going to polls on February 8 and the entire country is looking towards Delhi voters as to which way they are going to vote. The BJP has left no stone unturned and have brought in 200 Members of Parliament,11 chief ministers, and 70 ministers to campaign. Home Minister Amit Shah himself is in the front leading the campaign, besides Prime Minister Modi.
The battle is getting fiercer with controversial statements by BJP leaders against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Delhi elections can be called the fourth battle of Panipat, whose result, like the earlier three battles, will decide India’s future.
The current trends prove to be hugely in favour of the AAP and it looks like the incumbent party is going to win Delhi again with a landslide majority. AAP clearly has an edge over the BJP on many fronts such as:
The chief ministerial candidate has not been announced by both BJP and Congress as they don't have any leader who can match up to the charisma of Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi.
AAP's positive campaign has focussed on work achieved. The party has not aggressively involved itself in the controversial and emotional issues—such as Article 370, CAA, NRC, NPR, Shaheen Bagh and the JNU protests—and tried to not let the BJP polarise the elections on the grounds of a 'Hindu-Muslim' narrative and hyper-nationalism.
Another major factor that has proven to be capable of winning the hearts of Delhi voters is the work that AAP has achieved in the past five years. AAP not only focused on the welfare aspects but they also solved many problems by focusing on the critical aspects of governance while taking the state towards progress. Anyone who has closely observed the Delhi governance model in the past five years will know that Delhi has been on the path of progress on many fronts.
The areas where the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation has made a difference in Delhi are:
Education revolution: The Delhi government allocated around 25 per cent of its budget on education for the past five successive years and has built over 22,000 classrooms, which is way more than what all the 28 states put together could do.
The schools were given a facelift by improving the existing infrastructure as well as adding new state-of-the-art buildings and the teachers were sent for training to the UK, US and Singapore, so they can learn the western methods of teaching. Estate managers were appointed to maintain the housekeeping and monitoring of their work happened through an estate manager phone app.
Three-tier universal healthcare system: The AAP government has built 450 mohalla (neighbourhood) clinics and 29 polyclinics and improved the infrastructure of the hospitals with latest equipment. While the mohalla clinics serve the communities by providing free medicines, consultation and diagnostics, polyclinics take care of the specialised diagnosis and treatments, which mostly reduce the outpatient load on the government hospitals, thus letting them focus on inpatients and surgeries.
Free water: The AAP government gives 20,000 litres of water free. This has also ensured citizens use water judiciously. Despite giving free water, the Delhi Jal Board is making profits as it successfully plugged the leaks of corruption and mismanagement.
Free electricity: The Delhi government gives 200 units of free electricity with the cheapest per unit cost compared with all the other 28 states and is also ensuring 24 hours uninterrupted power supply.
Infrastructure: Delhi built 23 bridges to ease the traffic and many of these projects were done within budget and before the deadline. The Azadpur flyover was completed within the sanctioned budget, saving rs 100 crore and Bhalaswa flyover saved about rs 20 crore to the public exchequer.
Public transport: The AAP government made public transport free for women in DTC buses, which ensures their safety and also increases their savings. These women are also contributing towards the growth of the economy as they can now opt for better opportunities further away from their homes.
Safety and security: The Delhi government installed 3 lakh CCTVs in the many parts of the city and 13,000 bus marshals are deployed in the DTC buses to improve the safety and security of citizens.
Door delivery of services: This innovative concept was brought in to deliver over 100 services at the doorsteps such as birth certificate, new water connection and renewal of driving licence.
Farishte Dilli Ke: This creative scheme by the AAP government has so far saved over 3,500 lives of people who were involved in accidents. The government wants to encourage the people by giving a reward of rs 2,000 and a certificate of good Samaritans to whoever brings accident victims to the nearest hospitals.
Increased budget: Delhi almost doubled its budget from rs 32,000 crore in 2015 to rs 60,000 crore in 2019 and the Comptroller and Auditor General mentioned in its report that Delhi has maintained a revenue surplus over the last five years.
Besides working on the critical issues for the aam aadmi, the AAP government also focused on some creative solutions for issues with a futuristic attitude that was never a priority for any government. Delhi is the one and only state in the entire country to have:
Given Samman Rashi, an ex-gratia of rs 1 crore to the families of martyred soldiers, police and fire personnel
Brought in the best electric vehicle policy and residential solar policy on the lines of the US and European nations
Paid highest compensation to the farmers and implemented Swaminathan Committee Report
Brought in bike ambulances for the areas where cars cannot move in
Launched 200 automatic sewer-cleaning machines to stop use of manual scavenging
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- Chaotic scenes at MCD House; BJP, AAP councillors exchange blows, throw ballot boxes
- Delhi to get its mayor today as MCD convenes for the fourth time
- Delhi mayor polls: Breather for AAP as SC rules nominated members cannot vote
- Delhi Mayor elections scheduled for Feb 16 after LG okays government proposal
While the BJP has tried to utilise the Shaheen Bagh issue and personally attacked Arvind Kejriwal in their campaigns, AAP has steadfastly based its complete campaign on the positive aspects of the work the party achieved in the past five years. Whatever one may say, there is no doubt about the integrity of Arvind Kejriwal who provided clean administration and worked for the benefit of the people.
The Delhi elections are a test for not just Delhi alone but also for the whole country, as it will decide whether voters are going to vote on the basis of controversial and emotional issues or on the basis of the real issues of the people.
Santosh Addagulla works in an IT company in Fremont, California, and is an AAP supporter
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK
