NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal is the big winner in the Delhi assembly
elections
, with his party gaining 62 of 70 seats, but there are others too who returned to centre stage in this election. TOI takes a look at some big
winners
and
losers
.
ARVIND KEJRIWAL
After AAP’s thumping victory in 2015, he seemed to have lost his way somewhat, spending the early part of his term picking fights with the Centre and his own bureaucracy, leading to disillusionment among the middle class. The BJP win in the 2017 municipal elections jolted him and he clawed his way back to centrestage, pushing a development agenda and shrewdly offering attractive freebies. The Congress meltdown only made his task easier.
MODI-SHAH
The PM addressed just three rallies, keeping a low profile while the BJP charge was led by home minister
Amit Shah who managed to rouse the party faithful, preventing what could otherwise have been a precipitous slide in voting percentage. The tactic of tagging AAP and Congress to the Shaheen Bagh protest and polarising the election did not, however, prevent a huge AAP victory.
MANOJ TIWARI
BJP hoped the Bhojpuri singing star-turned-politician would signal the party’s recognition of the “Poorvanchali” factor in the
city and its promise of development would pay dividends. But Tiwari was unable to display the smarts to challenge AAP’s governance claims. He was also hamstrung by a fractious state unit.
RAHUL GANDHI
Though he has stepped down as Congress chief, Rahul continues to set the line for the party and there is little that has changed. He continues with personal attacks on PM Modi despite poor returns and failure to capture the popular imagination.