Only day ago, BJP president Amit Shah virtually launched the party's election campaign for West Bengal with his maiden visit to Naxalbari — the cradle of armed Left-wing insurgent movement in India.
The resounding victory of the BJP in Delhi civic elections, coming soon after its sweeping win in Uttar Pradesh, signals the ever-growing political clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Election, be it local, state or national, is not so much being fought over specific issues, but over the overall agenda of the Modi government.
Even though these were just civic elections, the message that went out from Delhi will have wider national ramifications and is bound to affect the outcomes in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, which are scheduled to go to polls in December. Five other states -- Karnataka, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura -- are also going to polls early next year, in the run up to the national elections in 2019. On the flip side, the Delhi civic poll outcome is also bound to affect Opposition's morale ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for July.
Only day ago, BJP president Amit Shah virtually launched the party's election campaign for West Bengal with his maiden visit to Naxalbari — the cradle of armed Left-wing insurgent movement in India. Eastern states and those along the Bay of Bengal coast are now the BJP's hunting ground. Wednesday's victory will only add to the aggressiveness of this effort.
The Delhi municipal election results are bound to trigger the rapid decline of the Aam Aadmi Party, ending even a remote possibility of positioning Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as the national alternative to Modi.
Political observers believe that a string of electoral victories has opened up scope for a bigger push to economic reforms, changes in taxation and labour laws. Realising that there will now be immense pressure of public expectations, Modi over the past two days has held meetings with BJP chief minister, key cabinet ministers and officials. At a meeting with 13 chief ministers and five deputy CMs, the PM sought a report card from them on 12 parameters of governance and added that he would regularly monitor their progress. BJP-ruled sates are seen as an extension of the Modi government and any slippage will reflect on the PM's own credibility.
Shah said Wednesday's result was an endorsement of Modi government's overall performance and a vote against the "negative politics" of the AAP. "The Modi-led BJP government has been in power at the Centre for almost three years. The message given by this government through its work has raised the acceptance level of Modiji's leadership. This victory has only reaffirmed it," Shah told the media in Kolkata.
PM Modi also thanked the people of Delhi for bestowing their "faith" in BJP as it marched towards a clean sweep in the MCD polls. "Grateful to the people of Delhi for the faith in BJP," he tweeted.
In a carefully crafted strategy, the BJP managed to divert the anti-incumbency and lack of performance of municipal bodies, which it controlled over the past decade, to the failures of Delhi's AAP government. Deciding not to re-nominate any of the councillors was a winning tactic. "Narendra-bhai had once replaced all councillers in Gujarat and won 2/3 seats in local elections. Same strategy worked in MCD," Bihar's Sushil Modi tweeted.
Even though the Congress did win some lost ground it had earlier conceded to the AAP, being at third place, made the national capital virtually Congress-mukt. The BJP had won all the seven seats in the 2014 parliamentary elections, while the AAP won 67 out of 70 Assembly seats in 2015, denying Congress an entry into the new House. The MCD poll debacle would now seriously impact the fortunes of the grand old party. Like in Delhi, many Congress leaders of Odisha and Karnataka are exploring options to join the BJP.
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