New Delhi: The pundits are calculating the outcome but the fate is sealed for 91 MP’s and the bumper vote may spring a surprise. The high turnout at the crucial third round of polling points to a political wave and many say that BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi may be the gainer. However analysts say that presence of new players like the Aam Aadmi Party and a consolidation of votes that may have been polarized especially in Uttar Pradesh may have contributed to this huge turnout.
According to election commission the average was 64% in Delhi, while UP recorded 65% up from 51% in 2009 in the 10 constituencies that went to the polls.
Riot hit Muzaffarnagar recorded an unusually high polling percent of 67.8%. Haryana too had a record turnout of about 73% in the polls to all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
This year’s voting has witnessed many first time voters who have taken their right of adult franchise and come out to practice it. What also is made clear in Delhi/NCR is that people want a change.
Delhi’s three-cornered fights could well decide the future of the party in national politics. AAP, despite its strong showing in the Assembly polls, is in troubled waters after its 49-day debacle in Delhi. Recent opinion polls have shown Congress recapturing a substantial part of the vote share it lost in the Assembly elections to the Kejriwal-led outfit. A poor AAP show could send the new party relentlessly downhill. Anything less than three seats will be bad news for AAP. However, pre-poll surveys say the lotus is set to bloom amid Delhi’s tectonic shift from bipolar to triangular contests.
Seen as test of Aam Aadmi Party’s perceived erosion of support base, BJP’s claim of ‘Modi wave’ and assertion by Congress that it was regaining lost ground after drubbing in last assembly polls. The high-voltage contest also assumes greater significance as it may set the stage for the possible assembly polls in the city in the next few months. The campaign for the election saw main contenders BJP, Congress and fledgling AAP engaging in a fierce race to woo the 1.27 crore voters. Though Delhi has only seven Lok Sabha seats, the election outcome in the heart of the country carry a lot of significance due to political symbolism. Though a total of 150 candidates are in the fray, including 58 Independents, the contest in all constituencies is likely to be three-way among the BJP, AAP and Congress.
Both Congress and BJP had mounted a shrill attack on Kejriwal accusing him of running away from responsibilities. BJP’s campaign was centred around Narendra Modi and the election will determine whether the ‘Modi wave’ had any impact or not. If the party performs well, then it may press for early assembly polls.
Almost all top party leaders including Modi, L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley campaigned in the city. BJP drew a blank in the 2009 polls, while Congress had won all the seven seats. After its massive defeat in the assembly polls in December last year, Congress through its campaign tried hard to win back support of the people through rallies and house-to-house contact programme. The party was routed in the assembly polls as it could win only eight seats. Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi had addressed separate rallies.