The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has failed to capture its core vote base in lower income neighbourhoods despite promises of ‘ Bijli half, paani maaf’.
In 2015, the AAP had emerged winners with a considerable margin in areas comprising slum clusters and unauthorised colonies. This time, however, most of the wards in these constituencies chose the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Visible disconnect
Bakhtawarpur ward in Narela, which comes under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, was among the areas that recorded the highest turnout for Sunday’s municipal polls.
The area mostly comprises JJ clusters and unauthorised settlements.
Out of the total votes cast in the area, 10,325 votes went to the BJP, followed by the BSP. The AAP did not even end up as runners-up here.
Located near the Delhi-Haryana-UP border, Bakhtawarpur residents are known to turn up in large numbers to vote.
In the 2012 municipal elections, the voting percentage here was 69.33%, which was 4.7 percentage points higher than the 2007 elections.
The AAP failed to impress in other low income areas too. In fact, in most wards, the AAP was not even end up second. In areas like Alipur, Burari, Holambi Khurd and Gharoli — which have a high Dalit population — voters picked either the BJP or BSP candidates.
Expert speak
“It would be wrong to say that the water and electricity subsidies have not worked in these areas. However, since many of these areas are jhuggi colonies or unauthorised neighbourhoods where small flats are rented out, the benefits are not reaching out as much as the AAP thought it had,” said Manisha Pandey, a political analyst and political science professor at Delhi University.
Ms. Pandey added that the narrative that the AAP had built in these areas was reconstructed by the BJP.
BJP used star power
She said that bringing Manoj Tiwari to head the Delhi wing of the party had worked well with the Purvanchali population.
“As soon he took charge, he met people in the slums. His star stature also attracted many voters. Not everyday does a Bhojpuri actor spend the night in a hut,” she said.
According to her, the disconnect with between voters and volunteers in these areas backfired for the AAP.
