New Delhi: His dogged refusal to be knocked out even after the massive defeat in the Lok Sabha polls has left the mighty BJP stunned. Whatever may be the outcome on February 10, Arvind Kejriwal has given the well-oiled machinery of the BJP-RSS a run for their money.
Never before has any BJP president held so many review meetings for an Assembly poll and never before had the BJP roped in over 100 MPs and half the Union cabinet to take on the charge of a new outfit.
Even in the unlikely event of a defeat in Delhi come February 10, the 46-year-old Mr Kejriwal has emerged as the main challenger to the BJP mascot, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In victory or in defeat, he is all set to be the Pied Piper who could lead the Opposition across the country.
As the high-decibel Delhi election came to an end on Saturday evening, the BJP was left shaken. Party insiders whispered that the AAP has shown that they cannot rest on past laurels. They could be heard saying, “We cannot depend upon Modi wave alone.” Some even wondered if the Modi wave was diminishing.
Another section of the saffron camp noted that calling one of the party’s pre-election promises as a mere jumla (idiom) may have hurt the BJP. It may be recalled that BJP president Amit Shah had said that Narendra Modi’s pre-Lok Sabha poll promise that every Indian would get Rs 15 lakh in his bank account when black money was repatriated from overseas was a jumla, and not to be taken literally.
Also, the move to rope in Kiran Bedi as the party CM candidate did lead to major discontent in the Delhi state unit.
As the exit poll results poured in, showing a clear win for the AAP, the body language of the saffron camp, that was already low, virtually shrunk. Of course it was now the BJP’s turn to trash the exit polls. Moving across the national capital on election day, the AAP resurgence was visible.
It was also evident that the AAP had managed to eat into the committed BJP vote bank across Delhi. A section of the middle class which had moved away from the AAP seems to have returned. Mr Kejriwal’s passionate apology for quitting in a huff after 49 days could have struck the right chord.
