Bruised Delhi heads to polls

The Capital goes to the polls after five years of acrimony that hamstrung governance. The new government might not be able to do better

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For a city-state with a modest electorate, Delhi has always commanded outsized heft on the national political stage — due to the prestige associated with ruling the Capital and the fact that its population reflects the diversity of broader national demographics. It is in this city that a generation of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders such as Madan Lal Khurana and Sushma Swaraj built their careers; it is Delhi that cemented the stature of three-time former chief minister (CM) Sheila Dikshit in the Congress; and it is the Capital that acted as the cradle for the anti-corruption agitation, the birth of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the launch of former CM Arvind Kejriwal.