Most of the exit polls which came with predictions on Wednesday see BJP’s return to power in Delhi after a gap of about three decades. One can assume that a shrewd politician as Kejriwal is will draw some inference in his favour from the defeat too.
DELHI/BHOPAL: On Saturday morning, a massive exercise- counting of votes-will begin in Delhi to decide the fate of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leader ex-Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in just concluded state assembly polls. However, what holds more importance for Kejriwal than the victory is a certificate that he wants desperately.
Kejriwal repeatedly talked of the certificate of honesty after he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the infamous liquor scam on September 13, 2024 having been put behind the bars for 79 days.
In the face of several restrictions imposed on him by the Supreme Court while granting him bail Kejriwal resigned from the chief minister (CM) post on September 17 and made a bold statement that he would sit on the coveted chair again only when people of Delhi give him a certificate of honesty in the upcoming Delhi polls.
So, what does it mean if Delhi voters reject AAP this time to deny a fourth consecutive term in power?
Will Kejriwal accept this as people’s verdict on his honesty?
And what about the certificate Delhi voters gave to him during Lok Sabha polls last year? Did voters not reject AAP in all the seven constituencies of Delhi despite the fact Kejriwal campaigned for the party candidates out of jail on interim bail?
Had Kejriwal remained in jail during polls he could have easily made a statement that his party couldn’t win any seat as he couldn’t campaign for the party. But it was a different scenario. Kejriwal was granted bail by the Apex Court despite Enforcement Directorate opposing his bail application.
It’s interesting to note that the Lok Sabha poll on the seven seats in Delhi was fought between BJP and AAP (a dominant constituent of INDIA bloc) on the issue of Kejriwal’s honesty.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders made a scathing attack on Kejriwal for allegedly being involved in the liquor scam and spending more than Rs 40 crore on his official bungalow i.e. Sheeshmahal.
However, Kejriwal has refused to believe that it was the certificate of dishonesty handed to him by Delhi voters in Lok Sabha polls. BJP leaders’ repeated attack on him have hardly deterred him from making repeated statements that he would accept the CM chair only when he got the certificate of honesty from the voters.
But what can cause major worry in Kejriwal camp is though the poll results for the state assembly will come on February 8, the exit polls results don’t give encouraging sign for him.
Most of the exit polls which came with predictions on Wednesday see BJP’s return to power in Delhi after a gap of about three decades.
One can assume that a shrewd politician as Kejriwal is will draw some inference in his favour from the defeat too, if this happens as per the exit polls, to sport a certificate of honesty from Delhi people.
If he wins the election in his constituency even if his party doesn’t get mandate of people he would easily claim that people have given him certificate of honesty. But what if his party and he himself lose the polls?
On Wednesday, as many as 59.71% of the total 1561400 voters cast their votes on 13766 polling stations across 70 assembly constituencies in Delhi. The majority mark is 36 seats.
Of 1,561,400 registered voters in Delhi there are 837,617 males, 723,656 females and 1,267 third-gender voters. There are 239,905 first-time voters (18-19 years of age).
