Arvind Kejriwal, however, is no walkover. Jail didn't finish him politically. And Kejriwal’s adversaries weren’t half as good as him. The BJP, however, took Kejriwal seriously. Kejriwal's electoral performance has so far been phenomenal and what he has up his sleeve could be a phenomenon.
But is Kejriwal confident this time? He seems mired in self-doubts, which could be why the Aam Aadmi Party has released a second manifesto. This one for the Middle-Class of Delhi, a vastly well-off section of the Delhi populace with all sorts of aspirations and expectations from the government of the day.
Needless to say, the Middle-Class is difficult to please. Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the current Delhi Chief Minister Atishi released AAP's manifesto for the 'Middle-Class' Wednesday and Kejriwal lined up seven Delhi-centric demands from the Modi government, all seven linked to the forthcoming Union budget.
Kejriwal's modus operandi is to make demands off the central government but by presenting them in such a manner that it sounds like he is having a direct dialogue with the electorate. By linking the demands to the needs of the Delhi electorate, showing his concern for the Delhi citizen by indirectly accusing the Modi government of neglecting Delhi.
AAP's 'Middle-Class' demands include those related to 'education budget', school fees, subsidies and scholarships for higher education, increase in health budget, tax on health insurance, GST-related, income tax exemption limit and schemes for senior citizens including free travel and assured pension.
Kejriwal juxtaposed these demands with the AAP government's record on these aspects of governance and painted AAP's performance in pastel colours while darkening the BJP-led central government's governance record, emphasizing that Delhi's fate is not in the hands of the AAP alone.
With February 5 getting closer and closer, desperation is showing and the worry lines are clearer. Kejriwal's wrinkles are not hard to miss and Chief Minister Atishi's presence by his side is a reminder of what awaits him even with the trophy in hand. Chief Minister Atishi is the best-placed politician in Delhi at this point in time.
That is if the Chief Minister's rogue-rival in the Kalkaji assembly constituency, the BJP's foul-mouthed Ramesh Bidhuri, doesn't stop bullying AAP aides of the CM. Bidhuri's "hooliganism" is the talk of the election-town and Chief Minister Atishi is demanding Election Commission action against the BJP candidate for unleashing an "atmosphere of terror" against AAP workers.
Reports say Union Home Minister Amit Shah has brought Delhi under his thumb even as the BJP waits for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to enter Delhi on January 23 and turn the tables on the AAP. Yogi Adityanath will address 14 rallies in three days and, thereafter, it will be 'Hindutva' all the way. The Muslim vote of Delhi is expected to coalesce behind the AAP.
What will hamper AAP's vote-gathering stamina is 'auto-rickshaws', which used to be AAP's driving force in the electoral field, have almost 99 percent driven away after Kejriwal made bus travel free for women and girls and 'Rapido' and e-rickshaws took to the main roads in droves.
There aren't many days left for February 5 to become top of the draw among dates and it is getting difficult to zero in on any one issue dominating the public discourse as far as this round of Delhi elections are concerned. The electorate appears not overly bothered with the 'liquor scam' and Arvind Kejriwal is still talking in 'freebie', the language best understood by the electorate.
Chief Minister Atishi says the AAP government will be back with the same "liquor policy" if elected again to power. Freebies for the women voters and for the male of the species, 'Yo ho ho and two bottles of Rum for the price of one — drink and the devil be done for the rest!" (IPA Service)