After registering an unexpected massive mandate in both Haryana and Maharashtra, the BJP top leadership seems to be overconfident on its win in Delhi Assembly polls and preparing to form its government after a gap of 27 years in the national capital. BJP is sure to win this side mostly due to declining Aravind Kejriwal.
More particularly, BJP is expecting that every single vote that Congress candidates get will certainly cut into the AAP’s vote share, thus paving the way for the success of BJP candidates. However, the BJP Delhi leaders are facing a `crisis of leadership’ and became `headless’ during the elections.
The very selection of candidates has been generating a lot of discontent not only among BJP cadre, but also from its strong supporters. The poll candidates were announced without a single meeting of the central election committee. Though BJP chief JP Nadda resides in Delhi, he is seen busy with his ministry activities, hardly bothering about Delhi polls.
Both Delhi election in-charge Jay Panda and Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva remained silent spectators. Hardly they were heard during selection of candidates. In a big fanfare Sachdeva had announced a grand parivartan padyatra on December 8, and the posters and banners prepared, but the march never happened.
A glaring example of poor choice of some BJP candidates reflects in fielding resourceful Parvesh Verma, son of the late CM Sahib Singh Verma, from the New Delhi constituency against Kejriwal. While Verma may be a winner in outer rural Delhi, which has a high Jat population, he is a bit of a misfit in Lutyens’ Delhi and with the Khan Market folk.
In the similar way in middle-class Kalkaji, BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri was seen like a bull in a china shop with his outrageous remarks. He provided his shrewd rival Chief Minister Atishi a perfect pretext to play the victim card by commenting on her elderly, ailing father. Bidhuri annoyed prospective voters by threatening not to help sort out electricity bill glitches if they voted against the BJP.
Both Verma and Bidhrui are certain to win from any rural constituency, but the party leadership allegedly making them scapegoats by fielding from high-profile constituencies. BJP has no leader worthy by name to catch the imagination of Delhi voters. Its only trump-card is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose popularity among voters is seen weakening from 2024 polls. It may be mentioned that he was seen only in a couple of election rallies in both Haryana and Maharashtra last year, unlike in other polls.