Modi’s BJP fights tough battle for control of Delhi elections

Bloomberg

Delhi voted in the bitterly contested state election on Saturday, with PM Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a tough fight to reclaim the capital region, marking the first major test at the ballot box of his religion-based citizenship law that’s spurred nationwide protests.
About 14.6 million voters cast their votes to elect 70 members to the legislative assembly on Saturday and results are expected on February 11, according to the Election Commission of India.
If the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) retains power in the capital region, it will be the third straight electoral setback for Modi, whose party lost control in the states of Jharkhand and Maharashtra last year.
AAP is projected to take 54-60 of the 70 assembly seats, down from 67 in the 2015 elections, while the BJP will likely win 10-14, up from three seats previously, according to a Times Now-IPSOS poll.
The ruling party’s campaign in Delhi, where the BJP last formed a government in 1998, was marked by divisive speeches and calls to violence. Junior finance minister Anurag Thakur was barred from campaigning by the Election Commission after he exhorted crowds to shoot so-called traitors to the nation, alluding to those protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act. The city saw at least three shooting attacks near the protest site ahead of the poll.
The new religion-based citizenship act, which was passed by an overwhelming majority in the parliament, fast-tracks religious minorities from three neighbouring countries, but excludes Muslims. Protesters say the law undermines India’s secular constitution while the
government says its aim is to protect persecuted minorities. The push-back against the law has been Modi’s biggest challenge since he swept to a second term last year.
The Aam Aadmi Party, formed in 2012 after a popular anti-corruption movement, focussed its campaign on local civic issues including water supply and education.
The attention on the protests “may have caused some increase in BJP support, but not enough to bridge the gap to gain power or unseat AAP,” said Sandeep Shastri, pro vice chancellor of Bengaluru-based Jain University and National Coordinator of Lokniti Network, whose pre-poll governance survey conducted in November and December showed a majority of Delhi citizens were satisfied with the current government.
“For the last two years at least, Indian voters have been making a very clear distinction by voting in a different government in the state and for Modi at the national level,” Shastri said. “The BJP is attempting to change this discourse by refocussing attention on national issues and national leaders in Delhi.”
New Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh neighbourhood, where Muslim women and students and activists from all religions have been protesting since December, became the target of speeches by the BJP’s star campaigners including home minister Amit Shah and Modi himself.
At an election rally in Delhi Modi accused the AAP and Congress party of “playing games with Indian democracy” and said “the protests in Shaheen Bagh are not a coincidence, but a political experiment.”
BJP spokesman Gopal Krishna Agarwal said the party would not shy away from the religious aspects of the debate. “Making it a Hindu-Muslim issue is being done by the opposition,” Agarwal said.
Kejriwal accused the BJP of trying to polarise votes to win the election. “AAP voters are those who want good education, medical treatment, modern roads, 24-hour electricity,” Kejriwal told the Press Trust of India.