Delhi polls: SC directive on assembly gives AAP new burst of confidence

Is the BJP running away from an election in Delhi?

It is not yet clear as to why a party which registered a thumping victory in all seven parliamentary seats in the state in the general elections, would not take the assembly polls challenge head on. But it has certainly given arch rival AAP enough reason to raise the question.

The latter, which has been insisting on early elections, could well claim moral victory after the Supreme Court’s directive to the centre asking it to take make its position on the government formation clear.

“This House can’t give a good government, so it should immediately be dissolved and a fresh election be conducted. AAP is confident of getting a clear majority this time unlike in the last poll,” said AAP MLA and senior leader Manish Sisodia, adding “despite winning 282 Lok Sabha seats, including all the seven seats in Delhi, the BJP has lost its confidence to face a fresh election, which is quite evident from its actions and resistance.”

According to a senior AAP member, it was AAP that filed a petition before the SC requesting the dissolving of the assembly and a fresh poll.

“It was in April that the SC had asked both the Congress and the BJP to spell out their stand, and both were urged not to dissolve the House. The present observation of the apex court is due to AAP’s constant plea for a fresh election; and in this case the Congress took a divergent stand inside and outside the court, while the BJP never wanted a fresh election,” the member said on condition of anonymity.

After losing significant popular ground due to severe tactical blunders and teething intra-party troubles, AAP appears to be bouncing back into contention. The Supreme Court’s observation has infused new energy into the party.

However, despite this show of confidence, all is not hunky dory for the party as the trust it held with the common man has relatively declined.

“The promises it made prior to the assembly poll couldn’t be fulfilled and Arvind Kejriwal decided to quit the CM’s post after 49 days of governance to join the race for prime ministership challenging Narendra Modi. This has led to a sharp decline in the popularity AAP enjoyed till December 2013,” said 70-year old Radha Sharan Sharma, a resident of Rajouri Garden, who was a staunch AAP supporter by his own admission.

“I don’t think even if a fresh election takes place, AAP will gain much. There’s again a possibility of a hung assembly,” observed Surajit Dasgupta, a journalist-turned- politician, who was one of the founder members of AAP and a member of the national council, but quit along with many others, due to growing discontent within the party.

According to Dasgupta, the emergence of a new kind of leadership within the BJP, unlike in the past, where the party had a compromising attitude towards the Congress under leaders like Vijay Goel etc – may go in favour of the BJP.

“People voted for AAP considering it as an alternative to the decaying Congress, against which people had lots of anger. But, now it’s not going to be easy, because even when the popularity of the party was at its zenith, the BJP got the highest number of seats with just three weeks’ of campaigning vis-à-vis AAP’s year-long aggressive campaigning on ground and through social media”.

But, can the Supreme Court’s observation be considered sacrosanct in the case of Delhi, which is under the President’s rule? And, can the observation made by the apex court’s Constitution Bench compel the parties to agree for a fresh election? Moreover, how far would this benefit AAP in achieving its goal?

“First of all, the Supreme Court can’t order the executive or the Election Commission to hold an election. It can only advise the government on the basis of a petition, which it did.

Considering the present impasse, the best option would be for the LG to first call AAP to form a government, followed by the BJP. Let it be a minority government, rather than political uncertainty,” said senior journalist and political commentator Jagdish Upasane.