CAMPAIGN ENDS, AAP-CONG PACT FACES LITMUS TEST

The stakes are high this time: For the INDIA bloc, it is a matter of survival, while it is a battle of prestige for BJP that won all 7 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections

- UJWAL JAJALI

THE national capital witnessed a unique election campaign that ended on Thursday evening.

Firstly, it saw the bonhomie of bitter rivals AAP and Congress aligning to contest seats under the 4:3 agreement. Secondly, AAP's star campaigner and Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, was arrested for an alleged excise scam, leading to parallel protests by AAP and BJP the former against incarceration and the latter seeking his resignation-and in the absence of Kejriwal, the AAP bringing his wife Sunita on the frontline. Then, in the middle of the campaign, Arvinder Singh Lovely quit as Delhi Congress president and joined the BJP. Finally, Kejriwal got bail from the Supreme Court for campaigning, forcing the BJP to redraw its strategy.

The stakes are too high this time. For the INDIA bloc, it is a matter of survival, while it is a battle of prestige for the BJP.

Seven Parliamentary constituencies in Delhi-Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, East Delhi, West Delhi, South Delhi, North West Delhi, and North East Delhi will undergo the voting process on May 25, where precisely 1.47 crore eligible voters will exercise their franchise. A total of 162 candidates are in the fray, including Manoj Tiwari and Bansuri Swaraj of BJP, Somnath Bharti and Kuldeep Kumar of Aam Aadmi Party, and Kanhaiya Kumar and JP Agarwal of Congress.