New Delhi, Dec 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) As a year of acerbic political rivalry and tumult in Delhi’s power corridors draws to an end, the city’s netas and residents would continue to remain in election mode which started with the parliamentary elections and will continue in 2025 with Assembly polls in February.
Besides ushering in Modi 3.0, the year 2024 served as a perfect arena for the ruling AAP and the BJP to woo voters in the run-up to what could be Arvind Kejriwal 4.0 or BJP 2.0 after the Assembly elections.
Though a fourth stint for the Congress in Delhi government is feasible on paper, it seems highly unlikely due to the party’s organisational challenges.
Narendra Modi's re-election as Prime Minister for a third successive term this year, with the BJP winning all seven parliamentary seats in Delhi, has given a leg up to the saffron party which is desperate to return to power in the national Capital after 26 years. The BJP has never won a majority in Delhi after coming to power in 1993.
The year also saw ‘Muffler Man’ Kejriwal’s release from jail twice – first for a few weeks for campaigning in Lok Sabha elections and, finally, on bail due to poor progress by the ED in the case – infusing fresh energy in the ruling AAP battling corruption charges.
The release of Kejriwal and other AAP leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and Sanjay Singh, in money laundering cases related to the alleged liquor policy scam and other matters also brought with it the pivotal moment of Kejriwal's resignation as Chief Minister in September.
New Chief Minister: While the national Capital got its second Chief Minister from the AAP in the form of Atishi, the development also threw up a new challenge for the AAP to justify the move.
The party tried its best to extract voter sympathy from Kejriwal’s forced exit from the CM’s seat but rivals BJP and the Congress kept up the pressure by asking sharp questions on his tarnished image and alleged corrupt rule.
The year also witnessed deepening political bitterness between the ruling AAP, BJP and the Congress over issues ranging from corruption and free welfare schemes or ‘revadis’ like free water, power, education, health and bus travel.
Matters related to development, Yamuna pollution, toxic air, contaminated water supply, inflated power and water bills, blocked sewers, law and order, Bangladeshi infiltrators and alleged tampering with voter lists, removal of bus marshals meant for security of women and waterlogging during rains also kept the political pot boiling through the year.
The drowning of three IAS aspirants in Old Rajinder Nagar in July also became a political flashpoint with the Opposition parties and the ruling AAP trading charges.
The Constitution Day celebrations towards the fag end of 2024 also saw all three parties competing with each other to highlight the Dalit icon’s achievements in a game of one-upmanship, targeting voters from the marginalised sections.
The race to emerge as the well-wisher of Poorvanchali voters, who account for almost 30 per cent of the 1.5 crore total voters and live mostly in the 1,700 unauthorised colonies, saw leaders of the ruling AAP, BJP and Congress spending days in their colonies and celebrating Chhath Puja with them.
Slum dwellers, an important vote bank as they also add up to about a third of the total voters, saw politicians pay special visits to their clusters around Dr Ambedkar’s birth and death anniversaries in April and December.
The Congress paid special attention to problems in the city’s rural belt, especially in Jat-dominated areas.
During the year, the AAP highlighted the positives in the election of its Dalit AAP candidate as Mayor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Congress took heart from the party’s student wing NSUI winning the president’s post in DU students’ union after seven years, seen as a revival of the Grand Old Party among young voters.
Delhi Congress President Devender Yadav’s Nyay Yatra – modeled on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s nationwide march – created the right optics for party supporters who are earnestly hoping that the party manages to turn the upcoming Assembly election into a close triangular battle.
Corruption in ‘Sheesh Mahal’: Throughout the year, the BJP kept the corruption bogey alive against Kejriwal and the AAP while preparing to set up a PM Modi vs Arvind Kejriwal clash in the Assembly elections.
‘Sheesh Mahal’, a term coined by the BJP for the renovated official residence allegedly involving corruption of over Rs 52 crore, dominated the political discourse through the year.
The year 2024, perhaps, will go down in the city’s history as the one which saw the polluted Yamuna getting unprecedented attention.
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva even took a dip in the polluted river ahead of Chhath and reported sick, with skin allergies – a political stunt which captured eyeballs.
Air pollution in the city, following Diwali and stubble burning in neighbouring states, pushed the AAP on the back foot with rivals succeeding to build a narrative of the Delhi government’s ineffective measures to tackle the crisis.
Kejriwal’s attacks on the BJP-led Central government over security of women and law and order were countered by the BJP by questioning the alleged assault on AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Swati Maliwal at the CM’s residence.
The AAP National Convenor’s visits to victims of heinous crimes struck a chord with voters but the exercise had to be discontinued due to alleged attack on Kejriwal during his padyatras.
The rising political temperature in the city also reflected in the hectic activity in courts in matters involving the AAP government and its rivals, besides the battle for power-sharing with Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena.
Apart from the ED cases involving Kejriwal and other AAP leaders, the courts remained busy with issues related to air pollution and GRAP imposition, allegedly poor health services and introduction of Central-government funded Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY health insurance scheme and the tabling of controversial CAG reports detailing the AAP government’s poor financial discipline in the Legislative Assembly.
As curtains draw on an eventful year, the controversy over the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana served as a perfect final bout between the ruling AAP and its rivals.
The scheme announced by CM Atishi and the AAP for offering Rs 2,100 per month to women was declared “illegal” by her government’s own departments, an unprecedented situation which gave fresh ammunition to the BJP and the Congress.
The New Year will bring a second election for Delhiites in a span of nine months. The BJP’s success in recent Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra have raised expectations of its supporters that ‘Modi magic’ would paint the city saffron, ending the party’s forced exile from power corridors for 26 years.
Also, the outcome of the Assembly election to pick a new 70-member House will decide the future of AAP at the national stage, especially in the INDIA bloc.
As for the Congress, there is nothing to lose. The year 2024 was more of a phase for the party to regroup after the failed experiment of tying up with the AAP in parliamentary elections.
Source: IANS
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