Delhi: Modi may be 'lucky' for India but Kejriwal's still the aam aadmi hero

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is indeed lucky. Only the people of India are a little, to use his phrase, #badnaseeb (unlucky). In May 2014, when Modi became the PM, crude oil was selling at $110 per barrel. On Thursday (January 29), it crashed to a six-year low of $44 per barrel before staging a minor recovery. On January 29, 2009 — exactly six years ago — the price of petrol in Delhi was Rs 40.62 per litre. Today, in spite of crude prices going back to the 2009 levels, petrol is priced at Rs 58 in Delhi. Logically, petrol should have been cheaper. But, it isn’t. By not allowing fuel prices to fall in proportion to the decline in crude, a feat it has achieved by raising tax, the Modi government will pocket a lmost Rs 18,000 crore . “If fuel prices have gone down because of my luck, why should you think of voting the unlucky?” Modi thundered at a rally in Dwarka on Sunday. Well, if fuel prices have actually gone up vis- a-vis crude oil—58 instead of 40—shouldn’t we consider ourselves unlucky? [caption id=“attachment_2074553” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PM Modi and Arvind Kejriwal. Agencies.[/caption] But the PM is still riding his luck. At his rallies, like the one at Dwarka on Sunday, when Modi asks if India is being praised across the world, if the country has found a leader who can look into the eyes of any global leader, and if the prices have come down, his supporters still respond with a roaring yes and then break into their ‘Modi, Modi’ chant. Isn’t he lucky that instead of voters, Modi is the one still asking the questions? If only the people of Delhi were as lucky as him, Modi and his entire team wouldn’t have been fighting a tough electoral battle with Kejriwal. A report on The Times of India states Delhi has a population of over 1.7 crore according to the 2011 Census, and about 1.3 crore voters, as per the latest revised electoral rolls. According to an NSSO report of 2011-12, an astonishing 60 per cent of this population lives on less than Rs 13,500 per month. In fact 21 per cent of the population survives at less than Rs 7,000 per month. A majority of these 78 lakh voters who earn less than Rs 500 per day seem to have rallied behind Kejriwal, forcing the PM to campaign hard; fly from one venue to the other. Those watching the election from their drawing rooms scoff at Kejriwal’s promises of free water, cheaper electricity and a corruption-free system. But these are the issues that Delhi’s ‘underclass’ has to deal with in daily life. For them, every penny matters. The middle class and the elite may love a PM who has the courage to look into the eyes of global leaders, but the underprivileged – autorickshaw drivers, hawkers, small traders, migrant workers and low-paid office workers – want somebody who can stare back at the corrupt babus and cops. For many, Kejriwal is that man. Modi’s Delhi speeches suggest he is trying to keep these 78 lakh voters away from the jhadoo. At his rallies, he has been consistently talking about pucca houses, more water, lower prices and zero-tolerance for corruption. “They would be under my radar,” he said at Dwarka, almost suggesting that he would be the Janlokpal watching the chief minister and his team if people vote for the BJP. A section of the middle class is still solidly behind Modi. But the BJP is worried that these supporters have developed poll fatigue and may not be tempted to come out and vote this time in large numbers. Not willing to take a chance, BJP president Amit Shah has himself taken the responsibility of booth management. He has also sent an SOS to volunteers and swayamsevaks across the country to descend on Delhi and mobilize voters on the polling day. Modi might be lucky. But his party is leaving nothing to chance.