NEW DELHI: Congress had fought the elections alone this time to up its vote share after its decimation in Delhi in 2014. It also hoped to recapture the lost ground. But contrary to its expectations, it was wiped off again though bettering its performance over last Lok Sabha polls.
Its tallest star Sheila Dikshit three-time Delhi chief minister from 1998 to 2013, appointed chief of Delhi to lead the Congress into war, failed, as did her six other lieutenants. A huge spike in vote share, which the Congress had expected in preparation for the Delhi Assembly elections next year, failed to materialize too.
Dikshit looked downcast, Thursday. “I’m depressed and disappointed”, she said, without hiding her feelings, after the results were declared. She had been emphatic, that if not three, the Congress could win four seats, just on Wednesday. That proved to be a mirage.
“When I was going around, especially in my area, I never expected these results. I thought people would vote for us. It’s disappointing. This is ultimately the will of the people who have given the mandate to the BJP for the second time. I am not going to question the electorate. I naturally do feel hurt,” Dikshit told The Morning Standard.
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Vote share concerns
The Congress, which was relegated to third place in all seven seats in 2014, improved its position in this elections with five candidates --- Sheila Dikshit (northeast Delhi), Ajay Maken (New Delhi), Arvinder Singh Lovely (East Delhi), Jai Prakash Agarwal (Chandni Chowk), and Mahabal Mishra (West Delhi) coming second. However, the remaining two — Rajesh Lilothia and Vijender Singh — stood third in their constituencies as AAP came in second.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, all Congress nominees had finished a poor third in all seven seats, with four of them forfeiting their security deposit. From 57.11% votes in 2009, the party vote share dropped to an unprecedented 15.10% in 2014. In 2013 Assembly elections, Congress won eight seats with 24.6% votes which was reduced to a mere 9.7% in 2015
Balakot strikes home
Within the Congress there is a feeling that Balakot and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign on nationalism worked for the BJP to come back with a sweeping mandate.
“This election was about nationalism, not sentiments. The Balakot surgical strikes is what has helped the BJP to win. Candidates were not important. They kept saying, whichever button you press, vote will go to Modi. The public was intrigued with such slogans. Despite our protests and Election Commission’s specific instructions to the BJP to not use Defence related issues in poll campaigns, it ran roughshod with it in its bid to change the narrative from the non-deliverables to nationalism. It worked. The voters thus clearly voted for teaching Pakistan a lesson,” secretary-in-charge (communication), Pranav Jha opined.