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Delhi Decides, writes Nina Pillai

Delhi would have voted by the weekend. Having spent a month in my home in the Capital, I have to say with conviction never have I seen such a fiercely fought election - state or national. I went out of my way to drive to far-out places to see this aggressively fought election.

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Delhi would have voted by the weekend. Having spent a month in my home in the Capital, I have to say with conviction never have I seen such a fiercely fought election - state or national. I went out of my way to drive to far-out places to see this aggressively fought election.

The most visual party in terms of posters was the BJP with the Prime Minister beaming from every building and hoarding. AAP had autorickshaws boasting posters, but I must admit it seemed AAP had more on the ground, troops who kept trying to stop my car to hand a pamphlet or flier. The print and electronic media seemed to barely cover the rallies, the road shows and the sheer manpower and star power that the three parties seemed to flaunt. They focused more on the controversies very important in this tamasha, rabbit-out-of-a-hat mad,mad,mad election, so press conferences were the order of the day. If the BJP had taken Delhi to the polls in May with the general election, they would have swept Delhi seeing as they got all seven out of seven Lok Sabha seats with a total sweep, but they mistimed it giving AAP time to regroup and recoup.

I am partial to the BJP and more than the party, to a woman as the Chief Minister, Kiran Bedi to me is a woman of substance. I met her two decades ago a few months after Rajan 's demise at her home in Delhi on her request. She was candid, open and spoke with a firmness that was inspiring. I remember her piercing eyes looking straight into mine and that's the straightforward, direct, to the point woman of the moment she continues to be. I remember when she smiled her whole face lit up and as she condoled with me she was empathetic and kind. In the intervening years, she doesn't seem to have changed. Her physical appearance is almost the same, extraordinary! her point blank ratatata tone of voice intimidating but it is a no nonsense approach,she has a strong assertive style and is prone to snap if she thinks someone is trying to mess with her,that's her years of IPS training. I think she will make a better Chief Minister than Sheila Dikshit. That's high praise as she was a great CM, transforming Delhi from a near village to a global Capital in her three terms. It was the corruption that did her party, and her in, finally, all the development and game-changing face lifts went for a nosedive and the slide of her party and her personal loss of the seat she held for decades told of the rot that seemed obvious to all but her. Sad! They didn't seem to read the handwriting on the wall!!

AAP, a party born out of an anti-corruption movement has me bewildered. Its leader Arvind Kejriwal even more so!! He coughs and shakes hands with the public with no basic understanding of hygiene.He sleeps on the footpath on dharna,sitting on the footpath signing files of national import, but suddenly has a change of mind and goes home.He swears on his children's lives he will not form a coalition with either the BJP or the Congress but eventually forms a government with the support of the Congress,he decries the Rebublic Day celebrations yet wants to be invited when he is not, a man of many controversies yet like the late cartoonist RK Lakshman's common man he has a basic appeal that all my staff and other aam admi have been bewitched by.Nothing phases the man and though I hate being told by pollsters that he is the next CM it sends a shiver down my spine that he may well be,Anarchy thy name is Aam Admi will be Delhi 's bane for the next five years.Phew! Really can this be happening in 21 st century India? a self proclaimed anarchist,a man whose blind ambition made him lose his deposit pitching himself against the PM in Varanasi,whose own party's founding father Mr Bhushan senior thought Kiran Bedi would make a better CM.A man who vaccilated about his CM accommodation till he took not one but 2 homes in Lutyens Delhi,travelled in style,had his posse of security detail all of which he threw up by resigning thinking he could sweep the nation and become PM so left all those who reposed their faith in him,in the lurch and resigned as CM.Ofcourse to later apologise and back track.If Mr Kejriwal becomes CM can you imagine everyone cutting off their meters as he did because the tariff was high?or lying on the road on dharna,or the storming of all the citadels of power as his people did from Rashtrapathi Bhavan to the PM 's Residence?

While I truly believe a true democracy needs a strong opposition and strong governance, that AAP will fill the space wilfully vacated by the Congress is scary, their last stint in Government left much to be desired. That the face-off is between two of Anna Hazare's closest lieutanants is testimony enough that Indian democracy is vibrant and alive my vote though is for woman power so Ms Bedi it is, as I will take vanvas (just to Mumbai) for five years, if the alternative reigns in anarchy!!
 

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