Photo for representation. File photo
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, December 7
The MCD election results come as a huge psychological booster for Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP that has managed to trump a formidable BJP poll machine within five years of debut in the civil polls.
The results are even more significant for the AAP cadre as this is the maiden win they have registered in a direct fight with the BJP, having earlier defeated the Congress in Delhi (2013 and 2015) and in Punjab (2022). “The BJP used to always say that AAP only defeats the Congress. Today a 10-year-old party has defeated the country’s largest political party,” AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said.
A buoyant AAP on Wednesday claimed that today’s win cemented the possibilities of future electoral contests shaping up as Arvind Kejriwal versus Narendra Modi.
“Today’s win shows that AAP is the only potential challenger to the BJP nationally and the contest really is between Arvind Kejriwal and PM Modi,” AAP’s MP and national spokesperson Raghav Chadha said on the eve of results in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where the party has put up candidates hoping to secure a reasonable vote percentage.
A victory in the face of BJP’s personal attacks on Kejriwal’s closest ministers — Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain — tells its own story although BJP MP from North East Delhi Manoj Tiwari said, “Corruption is not merely an election issue, it is a moral issue which the people of Delhi will understand some day.”
Although today’s win bolsters AAP psychologically, it may not be enough for its dream of becoming a national outfit. Currently, a state-recognised party in Delhi, Punjab and Goa, AAP needs to do well in Gujarat and Himachal to get EC’s national party tag which will eventually determine if Kejriwal can be Modi’s challenger.
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