Price rises and corruption likely to be main issues in Delhi provincial election

Описание: (3 Dec 2013) As India's capital goes to the polls Wednesday, its newest political party is threatening to play spoiler in a landmark fight between traditional rivals, the incumbent Congress Party and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
Nearly 12 (m) million Delhi residents are expected to choose representatives to the 70-member Delhi Assembly in polls that are significant as a bellwether for the country's general elections next year.
Top leaders from all political parties have been campaigning in the city, hoping to woo the voters in what is turning out to be a three-party contest in most seats.
The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP has been running a high-voltage campaign to wrest the state from the ruling Congress party.
Its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has been asking the people to vote for change and support their chief ministerial candidate, Harsh Vardhan.
Vardhan, a 58-year-old surgeon is a veteran BJP loyalist and a former Delhi health minister.
The right wing Hindu nationalist party blames the Congress party for corruption, high inflation and ineffective governance.
The president of the ruling Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi, has been campaigning for her party's chief ministerial candidate, Sheila Dikshit.
Dikshit, a 76-year-old grandmotherly figure, had been Delhi's top elected official, or chief minister, since 1998.
Her three consecutive terms have seen the city burgeon into a megapolis of nearly 17 (m) million people, many of them impoverished migrants in search of jobs.
Dikshit accused the opposition parties of misleading the people to grab power and asked the Delhi residents to vote for continuity and development.
But Dikshit is severely handicapped by the image of the Congress, which over the past few years has been hit by a slew of corruption scandals, adding to public anger over its failure to push through much-needed economic reforms to revive a slowing economy.
Analysts say that the resultant slowing of growth in the country, coupled with rampant inflation of food, fuel and utility prices, have turned the middle class and the poor against the party.
"The primary issue in Delhi is price rise. There's been runaway inflation for now four years at least. And in fact, I think Delhi is one of the most expensive cities in terms of food, accommodation, transportation and so on, whatever the politicians may say. So I think that's a really key issue for people. Second (issue) is corruption," says Arati Jerath, political analyst.
But it is an upstart party which is threatening to upset the political arithmetic in Delhi.
Led by a former tax official turned anti-corruption crusader Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Admi ( AAP ) or Common Man's Party
is challenging the mainstream Congress and the BJP, garnering widespread support among the people.
The year-old party was born out of the sweeping anti-corruption protests led by social activist Anna Hazare two years ago.
The new party hopes to capitalise on the disillusionment with the major political parties by offering what it claims will be an honest administration which takes Delhi's pressing problems as its priority.
Analysts say Kejriwal's party will be a critical player in the state elections as it brings issues of urban governance to the forefront of the political agenda.
"I see the Aam Aadmi Party as the first urban, truly urban party in India. I think they have introduced into the election discourse issues of urban governance which has never happened before," says Jerath.
The national elections in India are due next year in May and a win in Delhi may be crucial for all major contenders.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...