Wednesday, December 31, 2025
ADVT 
India

Both BJP, AAP claim they will win Delhi battle

Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Nov, 2014 10:25 AM
    Soon after the cabinet recommended the dissolution of the Delhi assembly, both the BJP and the AAP Tuesday claimed they were confident of winning the fresh elections.
     
    But Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi unit president Satish Upadhyay said his party -- unlike in the December 2013 election -- would not project a chief ministerial candidate. 
     
    "It's too early to talk about the CM candidate. The party will decide at the right time and will choose a leader through a democratic process," he said, adding quickly that he was not in the race for the post.
     
    Upadhyay said the BJP would repeat its winning streak in Maharashtra and Haryana in Delhi too. 
     
    Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal meanwhile accused the BJP of spreading communal poison in Delhi and said his party would bring together eminent religious leaders to combat this.
     
    The former chief minister also insisted that the AAP would win a majority in the upcoming election in the capital.
     
    "We will win in Delhi no matter how hard the BJP tries."
     
    Upadhyay and Kejriwal spoke a day after Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung was told by all three major parties in Delhi -- the BJP, AAP and Congress -- that said they favoured fresh elections.
     
    Kejriwal said the AAP was confident of winning more than 45 of the 70 seats in Delhi -- up from the 28 it bagged in 2013, leading then to a hung house.
     
    After the BJP with 31 seats refused to form a government, the AAP took power with the backing of the Congress. But the government collapsed in 49 days, leading to political uncertainty.
     
    Kejriwal said the AAP would seek votes on three key issues: its achievements during its 49-day rule, a corruption-free Delhi and making the capital one of the world's best cities.
     
    Asked if he could take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AAP leader said Delhi's voters would have to choose between him (Kejriwal) and BJP's Jagdish Mukhi for the chief minister's post.
     
    "Will Modi resign as prime minister and contest for the chief ministership of Delhi?"
     
    Upadhyay said: "Our MLAs are ready for fresh elections and we will fight under a collective leadership... We will repeat our performance of Haryana and Maharashtra."
     
    He said the BJP's main plank would be "good governance".
     
    Kejriwal and his colleagues attacked the BJP for delaying the elections all these months and accused it of using "unfair means" to install a BJP government in Delhi. 
     
    The capital has been under President's rule since Feb 17.
     
    Earlier Tuesday, the union cabinet recommended the dissolution of the Delhi assembly, paving the way for a fresh electoral contest.
     
    The BJP and the Congress have traditionally held sway in Delhi. This changed last year when the AAP contested the assembly elections and pulled off a stunning performance winning 28 seats.
     
    In comparison to the BJP's 31 seats, the Congress got just eight seats.
     
    This year, the BJP won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in the capital. The AAP finished second in all the places. The Congress either finished third or fourth.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    India/Pakistan travelogues by Indians/Pakistanis: This Near And Yet So Far

    India/Pakistan travelogues by Indians/Pakistanis: This Near And Yet So Far
    An incident that made me feel bad about the existence of a border between India and Pakistan...There was a 60-year-old man who touched Indian soil and started crying the moment he crossed the border today. Reason - he was not given a visa for the past 28 years to meet his son in Kolkata and today he got that... Are government policies more important than human emotions?

    India/Pakistan travelogues by Indians/Pakistanis: This Near And Yet So Far

    Soliloquy: 'English As She Is Spoke'

    Soliloquy: 'English As She Is Spoke'
    Sample this: Supervisor to foreman: "Where's Ramesh?" Supervisor: "Sir, he hasn't come today because he's tully". Translation: "Sir, he had too much to drink last night and is still drunk." Find that hard to digest? Well, there's a website called tullyho.com that deals with all there is to about drinks. Do check it out.

    Soliloquy: 'English As She Is Spoke'

    Will Nehru-Gandhi dynasty reboot or fade out?

    Will Nehru-Gandhi dynasty reboot or fade out?
    Narendra Modi is not far off the mark when he says that the May 16 results will be the Congress's worst. Drawing room and tea-stall chatter nowadays centres on whether the 128-year-old no longer a Grand Old Party will be able to reach the 100-seat mark in the 545-member Lok Sabha in which two MPs are nominated.

    Will Nehru-Gandhi dynasty reboot or fade out?

    Congress headed for historic defeat: Modi

    Congress headed for historic defeat: Modi
    The Congress is headed for a historical defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi said Monday. Addressing a rally in Mumbai, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said the Congress will not get seats in double digits in any state.

    Congress headed for historic defeat: Modi

    TIME 100 list of the most influential people: Modi gets more NO votes than Justin Bieber

    TIME 100 list of the most influential people: Modi gets more NO votes than Justin Bieber
    BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had many more “NO” votes than Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber and polled far fewer popular votes than AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal in a TIME 100 list of the most influential people in the world live poll as of late Sunday.

    TIME 100 list of the most influential people: Modi gets more NO votes than Justin Bieber

    India's democracy reaches out to lone voter in Gir forest

    India's democracy reaches out to lone voter in Gir forest
    He remains one of India's most prized voters. Mahant Bharatdas Darshandas is the lone voter in the midst of Gujarat's Gir forest, home to the Asiatic lion, for whom an entire election team sets up a polling booth every election - and will do so again on April 30.

    India's democracy reaches out to lone voter in Gir forest