While the Bharatiya Janata Party has been openly saying that the Aam Aadmi Party is a Congress front, which has been created with the sole purpose of dividing the anti-incumbency vote, senior party leaders now admit in private that the AAP has become large enough to damage the prospects of the ruling party.
“The AAP had started off the way the Bharatiya Jana Sangh had, by roping in people from all walks of life and taking donations to make its foundation firm. But what it lacks is the presence of an organised social group backing it,” said a senior party leader.
In the absence of a cohesive force backing it, the AAP is relying on volunteers. “We are, however, no longer worried about the impact of the AAP. For, it has made inroads into jhuggi clusters, unauthorised colonies and among minority segments, where the BJP had limited reach. So, now it is mainly eating into the Congress votes.”
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Another aspect about the AAP which the BJP leadership insists takes its worries away is that many of the candidates are newcomersand the belief that in the event of their votes becoming crucial for government formation, they would be easy to win over.
Senior BJP leaders also admit in private that Delhi continues to be the weakest of the States going to the polls. “For us our prospects look the brightest in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi,” said the central party leader.
He insisted the party believes that despite settling the issue of chief ministerial candidate in Delhi, it still has a long way to go to win the support and confidence of the people. Even BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was aware of this and was not keen on addressing too many rallies in Delhi.
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A senior Delhi BJP leader said while requests were made for seven meetings with him, one in each parliamentary segment, only one meeting was acceded to. It was only later that Delhi got a greater share of his meetings.