Letters: An eye-opener

This is with reference to the article 'Delhi results a national milestone' (February 11). The results prove that the voters cannot be taken for granted. People are not interested in communal and caste-based politics but want simple necessities of life like clean drinking water, good roads and good medical and educational facilities. If the country/BJP credited the 2014 Lok Sabha victory to Mr Modi's charm, then to a certain extent he should take responsibility for the Delhi debacle also. His personalised attacks on Arvind Kejriwal, calling him a naxalite and bhagoda, did not go down well with the Delhi voters. Secondly, Mr Modi's arrogant language (calling all the exit polls bazaaru) also distanced the Delhi voter from the BJP. When AAP was quietly preparing the ground work for its victory, the over-confident BJP was under the wrong impression that the Modi magic and Kiran Bedi's entry would give them a comfortable victory.

The AAP victory is also an eye-opener for politicians and political parties. The young voter is more demanding and cannot be won over by powerful speeches. He wants his vote to matter and will vote only for those leaders who will perform. Perform or perish should be the only mantra for elected representatives, who hitherto had the cushion of communal and caste-based issues. AAP's victory has opened a new and positive chapter in the political history of India, which hitherto has been controlled by religion and caste-based politics.

Veena Shenoy Thane

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