On the day, when the Union cabinet dissolved the Delhi Assembly on the recommendation of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, two big contenders, BJP and AAP got into action. The two parties held meetings to decide their poll strategy and campaign plans.
But Congress, which till last year was the largest party in Delhi, continued to lie low. The only rumor that came out of the party is that its seven Congress MPs who had lost the Lok Sabha elections, might contest assembly elections.
Both BJP and AAP declared each other as their chief opponent. While BJP targeted AAP for running away from Delhi and dragging Delhi into a re-poll, AAP set its pitch on its 49 days track record. "In our 49 days rule in Delhi, we had stopped corruption and price rise. People are saying that they want to convert those 49 days to five years. We will turn Delhi into India's first corruption free state," said Arvind Kejriwal.
The state unit of the BJP met to decide on the party's future course of action. "There will not be much change in our list of candidates. The candidates who lost elections by a very small margin will be given a ticket," said a senior BJP leader. The party sources said that candidates are almost decided and that they need to identify candidates for only about 12 to 15 seats.
The Delhi Congress office, however, had a deserted look. With the state office-bearers yet to be appointed, no meeting was called to discuss the poll plan. "We were waiting for some meeting to be called by the state leadership, for at least a basic brainstorming. But nothing happened," said a former office-bearer.
Finding fresh faces to contest is also going to be an uphill task for the Congress. In all possibility the party will ask its former seven MPs to contest the assembly election. "It is for the party to decide. If the party wants us to contest the election, we will," said Mahabal Mishra, former Congress MP.
However, senior party leaders are of the view that instead of giving tickets to old candidates, this is the best time for the party to experiment with fresh faces. "Instead of giving tickets to the candidates who led to the defeat of the Congress in the previous election, the party should give a chance to the members from the youth Congress and the municipal councilors, who will have a long way to go in Delhi politics," said a senior party leader.
While Arvind Kejriwal will continue to be the chief minister candidate for AAP, BJP will go to polls without declaring their CM candidate. The formula has worked for the BJP in Maharashtra and Haryana and the party will continue with the same in Delhi. The Congress however is undecided on the issue.
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