Did the Aam Aadmi Party truly do so badly in these elections? Maybe our expectations of its performance did - mine certainly were way off the mark. But I do look at two sets of numbers - and these show a different picture. First, take Delhi. In the state elections in December 2013, the AAP got 22 lakh votes for a 29% vote share - and won 28 of 70 seats. Common belief is that it has suffered badly in Delhi since. But the numbers suggest otherwise. Sure, the BJP won all 7 seats and all credit to them, no taking away from it. The BJP took their votes from 25 lakhs to 38 lakhs, and their vote share from 33% to 46%. But the AAP also actually increased its vote share from 29% to 33% - and the number of votes it won from 22 lakhs to 27 lakhs in Delhi. The real loser here was the Congress, which went from 25% vote share down to 15% vote share. And the other smaller parties and independents, who lost their votes to the BJP and the AAP. So perhaps the oft-repeated claim that all of Delhi was pissed off at Arvind Kejriwal resigning might not be true. They certainly got more votes than they did earlier. The second number is 1.14 crore votes the AAP has received nationally so far. This is 5 times its tally in Delhi - so the partys support did grow 5-fold in less than 5 months since Delhi. Sure it wasnt enough to win more seats - but its also important to see that one got the support of a crore of people from all over India - and that this is a great base to build on. A crore here, a crore there, and hey, soon you become a force to reckon with nationally. The BJP won 17 crore votes this time, out of the 55 crore votes that were cast. So, actually, 38 crore people or 69% of India did NOT vote for the BJP. So theres a huge potential to build not just an alternative to the BJP - but to build a party over the long term that can lead and guide India. Till then, theres the role to be vigilant and be a good opposition to make sure corruption doesnt screw us over again. But hey, its a great start. Lets remember that the BJP took 18 years to win their first national elections. Im sure the one-year old AAP can do it much sooner than that :-) And lesson to myself: careful with those dreams, boy!
Posted on: Fri, 16 May 2014 18:26:22 +0000
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