New Delhi: Politics in Delhi has reached fever pitch, with the official announcement of the assembly elections yet to come. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), seeing an opportunity due to the anti-incumbency sentiment, has launched a full-scale campaign against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), particularly targeting its leader, Arvind Kejriwal.
Despite the BJP’s poor performance in Delhi in the past, it now believes it can weaken AAP’s dominance, especially with key leaders, like Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia facing legal battles. If the BJP can reduce AAP’s majority in Delhi, it may attempt to capitalise on this to expand its influence in states like Punjab.
Meanwhile, the AAP-Congress relationship has become increasingly strained, especially in Delhi. Congress has fielded strong candidates against AAP’s top leaders, accusing them of aligning with the BJP on key issues. This has led to mutual accusations of collusion, with AAP accusing Congress of being funded by the BJP and Congress calling Kejriwal “anti-national”.
These tensions are exposing cracks in the Congress-led opposition alliance, the INDIA bloc, which faces contradictions among its regional partners, like the Left and Trinamool Congress, each with conflicting interests in different states.
At the heart of BJP’s strategy is attacking Kejriwal’s “aam aadmi” image. It has exposed his luxurious lifestyle, questioned his anti-corruption stance through the excise case, and criticised his welfare schemes, like free healthcare and financial assistance for women. Additionally, BJP is also leveraging accusations that AAP is soft on issues like the Rohingya refugee crisis to undermine Kejriwal’s nationalist image.
The situation is likely to worsen as the election draws near, with intense political battles that could reshape alliances and political dynamics, especially within the INDIA bloc.
In Episode 1580 of #CutTheClutter, ThePrint Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta talks about BJP’s anti-incumbency strategy, attack on ‘Brand Kejriwal’ and implications of the fraught relationship between AAP and Congress for the INDIA bloc.
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