Kejriwal stops PM Modi's juggernaut

What a victory! This diminutive former bureaucrat today stands tall in comparison to both past and present leaders of Delhi for scripting such an astonishing victory.

Tuesday's poll outcome would surely go down in history as unparalleled, as no leader before him has tasted such majestic success.

Previously, the Congress under Sheila Dikshit, had bagged 52 of 70 seats when it trounced the BJP in 1998. But today's victory is historic as the AAP blew all away by bagging all but three of the assembly seats.

None expected Arvind Kejriwal, the man who lost face by resigning within 49 days of assuming office last year and plunging Delhi into political uncertainty, would recover ground so soon to sweep the polls, and deal a major blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

How should such a phenomenon be interpreted? Was it a vote against the BJP or Modi or both?

The BJP will need to do a lot of explaining as it had sought votes in the name of Modi before importing former top cop and social activist Kiran Bedi, frightened by the spiraling popularity of Kejriwal.

It used everything in its bag --- Modi, money and machinery --- to stop Kejriwal in his tracks. Alas, it all came to nought.

Nothing worked. In fact, the writing on the wall was loud and clear and the BJP failed to read the message. It kept on committing mistake after mistake. While Kejriwal succeeded in striking a chord with the people by raising issues concerning them and promising solutions, the BJP resorted to negative campaigning.

Leader after leader, including Modi, tried to run down Kejriwal, some even calling him names which did not go down well with the masses, including hardcore BJP supporters. The BJP did what the Congress did in the Lok Sabha elections, targeting Kejriwal like the latter did Modi, and paid the price.

The decision to delay elections also cost the party. Riding on the success of the general elections, the party could have encashed on it by holding elections in Delhi immediately. But it shied away and gave the AAP enough time to regroup and win back the support of the people.

The BJP also erred in imposing Kiran Bedi on its cadres within four days of her joining the saffron party. That dampened the spirits of several top leaders and their supporters who had been slogging for years in Delhi. It was then that the BJP started losing ground. What many thought was a masterstroke by the BJP, in fact, backfired. Not only did Bedi fail to enthuse party workers, she could not even win her seat from Krishna Nagar, considered to be one of the most safest constituencies for the party as it had been nurtured by Dr. Harsh Vardhan. She was trounced by S. K. Bagga, a little known lawyer. That sums up the story.

The BJP also did no good to itself by delaying the naming of candidates. Several had to jostle at the last moment to file their nomination papers, leaving very little time for them to campaign.

By then, the AAP had already positioned itself, holding rallies, conducting road shows and reaching out to people through door-to-door campaigning. In fact, the AAP was several notches ahead even before the start of the race.

An over-confident and largely complacent BJP thought that the Modi magic would do wonders again as had happened in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana and Kashmir. But as the campaign progressed, Modi and his team had to spend crores of rupees on advertisements to seek votes in the name of Modi. But they failed to breach the Kejri (wall).

The elections are also a warning against partisan politics by Hindu hardliners in the BJP. It is high time the BJP realizes that elections can't be fought and won on petty and communal lines.

Modi would do well to rein in fringe elements in his party, who are strong believers of divisive politics.

Today's youth aspires for a strong and developed India.

Development and inclusive growth should be the BJP's mantra if it aims to do well in future.

(Vikas Khanna is a senior journalist and the views expressed by him are personal .