How Kejriwal’s TINA campaign put AAP ahead of its opponents

New Delhi, Feb 11: The exit polls suggested a third term for the Aam Admi Party. The early leads suggest that the AAP has its nose in the front and if the trends continue this way, then there is no stopping Arvind Kejriwal.

The AAP built its campaign around the TINA factor. This meant, "there is no alternative." Further from day one Kejriwal challenged the BJP to name its chief ministerial candidate. The BJP went into this election without a CM face, unlike in 2015, when it projected Kiran Bedi as its leader. The result for the BJP was nothing much to talk about.

The AAP on the other hand ensured that it spoke about the BJP's CM face everyday. It even released spoof videos of who the BJP's CM face would be if the party was in power in Delhi.

The AAP also drove home the point that the BJP relies on Prime Minister Narendra Modi too much to win elections. While, there is no doubt that Modi has won many elections for the BJP, in the past few years, there has been a turn of events when it comes to the states.

In the national elections, the BJP had won big in Delhi. However analysts say that while on national issues, the BJP was given the mandate in 2019, the 2020 Delhi elections are different. This is more about governance on the local level.

The first half of the campaign belonged to the AAP. It appeared as though it would be a no contest.

The BJP then changed its strategy mid way and raked up the Shaheen Bagh protests. The BJP's campaign around Shaheen Bagh and Jamia were all aimed at roping in those voters who had voted for it in the 2019 national polls.

The BJP also tried to capitalise on the fact that the shooter at Shaheen Bagh was part of the AAP. The Delhi Police had spoken about this link. The AAP was quick to hit back and released videos of the shooter's father denying these charges.

While the battle has been an interesting one, one also needs to speak about the Congress. All pollsters have given the party nothing or say that it would end up a distant third. The party showed no signs of a fight. Overall the Congress ran an indifferent campaign and continued to seek votes in the name of later former chief minister of Delhi, Sheila Dixit. It did not work in 2013 and it would not be wrong to say that the result would be the same in 2020 as well.