Congress, no pushover, may well spring a surprise in Delhi

With no MP from Delhi in L S and no MLA in Delhi Assembly, Congress has nothing to lose. But it will come as no surprise if Congress and not AAP put up a better fight against formidable BJP line-up

BJP Delhi President Manoj Tiwari, Congress President Sheila Dixit and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal (nh)
BJP Delhi President Manoj Tiwari, Congress President Sheila Dixit and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal (nh)
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S Khurram Raza

The electoral contest in Delhi promises to be closer than what pundits believed till last week. Conventional wisdom held that only an alliance between the regional powerhouse AAP with the Grand, Old Party (GOP) Congress could stop the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi. And once it became clear that the alliance was not in the offing and a triangular contest in all the seven seats had become a reality, pundits wrote off the chances of both AAP and the Congress. BJP, they predicted, would make a clean sweep.

The prediction was not misplaced and the results may well bear this out. But in less than 72 hours, the perception has undergone some change and it is now conceded that the contest in Delhi could be a lot closer than people had bargained for. While it is advantage BJP in the triangular contest, there are the proverbial slips between the cup and the lip. And it is the Congress which is likely to put up a better fight than AAP.

The trading community in Delhi, which is an important trading centre, has been upset with the BJP in the wake of Demonetisation and the GST. And the final straw was the sealing drive during which Delhi Police went berserk while assaulting the traders. The blame game between AAP and the BJP did not go down well with the traders, who are upset with both the parties.

Another reason why their votes may not go to AAP is because in a Parliamentary election, AAP is still not considered a serious enough player. If the anger in the community persists, therefore, it will be Congress and not AAP which will be the beneficiary.


The jury is still out on whether the BJP did the wise thing by dropping Mahesh Giri, disciple of the Art of Living Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, from East Delhi and Dalit leader and former bureaucrat Udit Raj from North-West Delhi. BJP has replaced them with cricketer Gautam Gambhir and Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans. Both of them are crowd pullers and popular and start off as favourites. But the fact that they are newcomers with no political experience work against them.

Congress fancies its chances in North East Delhi, where former chief minister and DPCC President Sheila Dikshit will take on BJP’s Manoj Tiwari, and the New Delhi constituency where the Congress candidate is a former union minister and a former DPCC President Ajay Maken is pitted against Meenakshi Lekhi of the BJP.

Arvinder Singh Lovely, the Congress candidate from East Delhi, former MP and another DPCC President Jai Prakash Agarwal in Chandni Chowk and prominent Poorvanchali Mahabal Mishra in West Delhi are also believed to be formidable candidates.

A young Dalit face Rajesh Lilothia fielded from North-West Delhi and boxer and Olympian Vijender Singh, a popular Jat icon, from South Delhi are also not pushovers.

What is working in favour of the Congress is the track record of Sheila Dikshit who was chief minister of Delhi for 15 long years. Other Congress candidates are also household names in the capital, with many of them having prior administrative experience and the reputation of getting things done.

That is why one sees a spring in the step of Congressmen in the capital. With Assembly elections due next year, the general election is being used by them as a dress rehearsal.


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Published: 25 Apr 2019, 7:38 PM