No names in the blame game

The duel for Delhi - it looks a bipolar contest - is interesting in the way pre-eminent leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) refuse to name each other in their election speeches. It might have been termed bashfulness in any other circumstance. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal criticised BJP chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi or party MPs such as Sakshi Maharaj but never once named Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is true even when Kerjiwal is responding to criticism from Modi that AAP and its leaders are anarchists, Naxals and should go to jungles. He ends up saying how the "BJP" is making such accusations, when it was Modi who said this about AAP at Delhi's Ramlila Ground rally on January 10. At that rally, as well as on Saturday in east Delhi, the Prime Minister criticised AAP, but without naming Kejriwal or his party. It's possible that both realise personal attacks on each other are unlikely to win them votes, as both are popular leaders who, in the public mind, stand out from their ilk for being honest.