New Delhi: As the battle for Delhi enters its final phase, heated debates, praises, and questions are being thrown up in every nook and corner of the city about who'll win it. The only prediction that can be made with certainty about the Delhi Assembly Election scheduled for February 7 is that it will be unpredictable till the end.
Political pundits are calling it a neck and neck fight between the BJP and AAP, the results of which could influence the direction of Indian politics in the months to come. What's interesting this time is re-emergence of Aam Admi Party, which had notched up unexpected successes in the 2013 elections but lost steam after Arvind Kejriwal's exit as chief minister. A big reason for this is the support the AAP is getting from the city's `underclass' - unorganized sector labourers, industrial workers, petty shopkeepers and traders, office, shop employees and others.
According to Census 2011 data, Delhi has a population of more than 1.7 crore and about 1.3 crore voters. The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report of 2011-12 stated that 60 per cent of Delhiites lives on less than Rs 13,500 per month and 21 per cent of the population survives on less than Rs 7,000 per month.
In addition, there are more than 3.5 lakh central government employees and 2.5 lakh state government and local bodies' employees, as per DGET data for 2012, forming 30 per cent of Delhi's population earning Rs 15,000-Rs 30,000. A majority (82 per cent) of Delhi's working class are in the services sector-trade, transport, education, health, personal services.
Another NSSO report says 62 per cent of Delhi workers in the informal sector had no written job contract. Most of them do not get paid leave or any social security benefits.
And it is this working class of the capital who see Arvind Kejriwal as their saviour for raising the issue of "inflated" power and water bills.
Clearly, the underclass forms up a big support group for the AAP. And the people's response to the AAP has forced the BJP to bring in heavyweights to its election campaign. The Bharatiya Janata Party top leadership is out in full force on the streets of Delhi. Just a day after a rally in East Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be addressing another one on Sunday in Dwarka. BJP President Amit Shah will be addressing a rally in Jahangirpuri while other heavyweights including Smriti Irani and Arun Jaitley are also likely to hold rallies across the city.
