The guns fell silent on Thursday as the curtains were drawn on an extremely fierce campaign for the Assembly elections in Delhi which saw the ruling Aam Aadmi Party banking on the appeal of its election mascot Arvind Kejriwal and hoping its populist measures yielded electoral dividend, while the main rival BJP's electioneering was based on its pet theme of nationalism. The BJP's campaign also saw Union Home Minister Amit Shah leading from the front as a formidable line-up of the party leaders carried out a relentless attack on Kejriwal and his party.
The AAP's campaign for the February 8 election was hinged on the slogan of the capital opting for Kejriwal at the state level and seeking to convey the message that the other parties had no credible alternative to offer to him. This was evident in the party's poll slogans 'Ache Beete Paanch Saal, Lage Raho Kejriwal' and 'Dilli Mein To Kejriwal'.
The ruling party ran an intensive door-to-door campaign, which saw it going to the people with a 'report card' of the work done in the last five years as also 'Kejriwal's guarantee card' that contained ten promises for the coming five years. The campaign highlighted the AAP government's populist measures, such as cheap electricity and water, free bus rides for women, free pilgrimage for senior citizens as also the work done in the areas of education and healthcare.
Wrapping up the AAP campaign, Kejriwal said, “This will be a historic election for the country. The victory of the Aam Aadmi Party in this election will establish a new kind of politics in the country, which is politics of work. Parties like the Congress and the BJP are afraid that if this kind of politics spreads all across the country, then the politics of caste and religion that they have practised so far will fail.”
He also took a dig at the BJP's formidable line-up of campaigners in the election, saying the saffron party had brought in 200 MPs, ten chief ministers and 70 ministers to defeat a “small man” like him.
The BJP's campaign, which began by questioning the work done by the Kejriwal government, soon changed track with the aim of turning the election into an ideological fight. Using Shaheen Bagh as a symbol of the 'anti-national' forces that the party was fighting against, the BJP made an effort to paint Kejriwal as a sympathiser of the anti-CAA protesters, and its MP Pravesh Sahib Singh even called him a 'terrorist'.
The BJP deployed its entire firepower as it ran an intensive campaign, which involved nukkad sabhas and padayatras by Union ministers, chief ministers from BJP-ruled states, ex-chief ministers and other senior leaders of the party. Shah led from the front, holding three to four nukkad sabhas and padayatras a day. At the fag end of the campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed two rallies, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, known for his no-hold barred speeches, held a series of public meetings.
The Congress, which ruled Delhi for three consecutive terms before its defeat in the Assembly elections in 2014, has run an extremely low-profile and lackluster campaign. Infighting, the inability to offer a credible face after the demise of former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit as also paucity of funds have had an impact on its poll preparedness.
The results of the state election will be declared on February 11.
