Indian Prime Minister Modi. PHOTO: FILE
NEW DELHI: India’s ruling party was projected to lose a key state election on Tuesday, the vote count showed, in its first electoral test since deadly anti-government protests erupted nearly two months ago.
Exit polls predict Modi defeat as Delhi votes
The Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a bigger majority in a general election in May, but it has lost a string of state elections since then.
AAP won, bluff and bluster lost. The people of Delhi, who are from all parts of India, have defeated the polarising, divisive and dangerous agenda of the BJP
I salute the people of Delhi who have set an example to other states that will hold their elections in 2021 and 2022
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) February 11, 2020
The protests, in which at least 25 people have been killed, erupted across the country in mid-December, after the BJP passed a new citizenship law critics say violates India’s secular constitution and discriminates against minority Muslims.
In counting for state polls held in India’s capital New Delhi, data from India’s Election Commission showed the liberal Aam Aadmi Party, led by the city’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, leading 57 out of 70 seats.
The BJP ran a campaign accusing protesters of supporting Pakistan and was projected to win 13 seats, up from three in 2015 but far below its own expectations. The party’s local chief Manoj Tiwari had predicted it would win a majority.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on #DelhiElectionResults: I have congratulated Arvind Kejriwal. People have rejected BJP. Only development will work, CAA, NRC and NPR will be rejected pic.twitter.com/VgpX9TmoLs
— ANI (@ANI) February 11, 2020
AAP activists in distinctive white boat-shaped caps danced outside party headquarters in New Delhi as the result became clear, TV channels showed.
Neelanjan Sircar, an assistant professor at Ashoka University near New Delhi, said that local issues, including the delivery of basic services like education and health, appeared to sway voters toward the AAP, even as the BJP ran a polarizing campaign on the back of Modi’s image.
“Modi is a larger than life character at the national level, which obviously gives the BJP a huge advantage in national politics,” Sircar said.
Delhi elections were a direct contest between @ArvindKejriwal & @AmitShah. Kejriwal is responsible for the AAP sweep. Shah is responsible for BJP’s flop show. Nadda, Shaheen Bagh, Tiwari, Delhi police, Chaurasia and Chaudhary were all side shows. It is really as simple as that.
— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) February 11, 2020
“But it doesn’t translate to state-level politics, where the BJP often doesn’t have a charismatic face.”
Bespectacled former bureaucrat Kejriwal, 51, formed AAP in 2012 amid an anti-corruption movement that swept India.
The party won a stunning victory in 2015 state elections in the capital, wiping out the BJP and Congress, the party that has ruled India for half its post-independence history.
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The Congress - the main opposition at the national level - was projected to win no seats in Delhi on Tuesday, data showed, reflecting the deep decline in its fortunes.
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