Holi came early for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as Delhi voters gave a historic mandate to it, bringing back the saffron party to power after almost a long gap of 27 years.
At the BJP Delhi office, the atmosphere was full of happiness and excitement. Party workers were seen dancing on the tunes of dhol and band-baaja, with some playing with gulaal.
A bunch of them were seen lighting firecrackers on the road. Inside the office, a feast was on. With long queues of Karyakartas holding plates waiting for their turn to enjoy the meal, the BJP office was drowned in moments of celebration.
At two places inside the premises, there were big screens placed with multiple television news channels being screened. Karyakartas were hooked to the screens with plates in their hands. After all, their hard work had paid off.
The BJP has been voted to power in Delhi with a thumping majority. It won 48 of the 70 seats in the assembly elections on Saturday. AAP was placed second with 22 seats. Congress, meanwhile, has witnessed a complete wipeout from the union Territory.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the party workers at the BJP Headquarters on Saturday evening. He promised to investigate alleged corruption by the AAP in his first speech after Delhi results.
The new BJP government will also submit untabled CAG reports during the first assembly session of the new government, the PM said, adding, “Whoever has looted will have to return it.” .
PM Modi also accused the AAP of being “completely dishonest” and cited Anna Hazare’s statement on Saturday to drive his point. “The party born out of the movement against corruption got involved in corruption. Those who used to give themselves certificates of honesty, turned out to be corrupt. This was a big betrayal with Delhi,” he said.
“27 years of vanvaas (exile) has ended today. Kejriwal only built sheeshmahal for himself but did absolutely nothing for the poor and the needy,” one of the BJP supporters, who was waving a big BJP flag outside the party office, said.
PM Modi had led the aggressive campaign against AAP saying his party will continue the welfare schemes given by AAP, with the added promise of “double engine development” and a crackdown on “AAP’s corruption”.
Kejriwal’s party, which was already battling anti-incumbency, also appeared to be the one that had lost the confidence of the middle class who did not benefit from its politics of welfarism, but were impacted by the poor state of roads and civic amenities in the Union Territory. The relentless Lieutenant Governor vs Delhi’s AAP Government also turned out to be a major factor for BJP’s big win.
“Kejriwal is a fraud and a liar. He tried to win this election by making multiple false promises,” a woman party worker said.
Another karyakarta Sunita Pawar, who had a plaster cast on one of her leg, said that she came to the party office only to express her happiness.
The Modi boost to BJP’s Mission Delhi started on January 3 when he sounded the BJP’s poll bugle for Assembly elections, comparing the AAP government to a calamity and unveiled the term “AAP-da” for Kejriwal’s party.
Ajay Sharma, another BJP worker who was drowned in Gulaal soon after the BJP headed towards a stunning victory, said, “There was no dhol here for many years. We are thrilled to experience the feeling of this victory. Delhi voters have blessed us and hence we are celebrating here like we celebrate our festivals.”
On the question of who will become CM, Sharma said, “It’s the party high command which will take a call on this after a meeting with all the elected BJP MLAs. Maybe Parvesh Verma or someone else… I can’t say. The party will decide eventually,” he added.
A Muslim karyakarta of the party, who was shaking a leg on the tunes of dhol, said that “Muslims have overwhelmingly voted for the saffron party” and that “PM Modi has to be credited fully for this moment.”
“Other political parties threaten the Muslim community saying we should not be voting for the BJP. Their fear mongering in order to secure Muslim votes has miserably failed,” he added.
Between 2015 and 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, the BJP’s vote share increased from 32.3 percent to 38.5 percent. In the just concluded Assembly elections, the party’s vote share touched 48 percent.
Now that the double-engine is set to roll out in Delhi, it remains to be seen what plans does the BJP have for Delhiites. As of now, the party has taken up the task of deciding on the name for the post of the chief minister. It’s likely that BJP will throw a surprise in doing that like it has done in several past state assembly polls where the elections were fought without a CM face.
