All thanks to the “Teeka Lagao”, “Each One Kheench One”, “Dot Is Hot” and many such other campaigns initiated by both the electoral office and media be it television, radio or social media, this year both the youth old alike, felt responsible, more than ever and turned out in huge numbers to cast their vote.
It was different kind of a positive energy in the air this time around. People ensured that they stay focused and self-motivated to cast their vote. Heavy footfall was observed throughout the day at some major polling stations and people started pouring in as early as 7 o’clock in the morning just to avoid waiting in queues.
I too was scheduled to travel out of station on the 4th of Dec (Voting day) in the morning, however this time the travel didn’t seem as exiting a proposition as voting was. All thanks to the buzz, excitement and hype which was doing the rounds this time. In fact when I finally embarked on my journey, post casting my vote that is, I met quite a few people en-route who just did the same.
Delhi saw an over 66% of voting happening this time. The number might look less, but as compared to the previous seasons, still is an all-time high figure. There were a plethora of reasons due to which Saddi Dilli saw a high voter turnout this time however the single most deriving factor was the debut of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Constituted only a year back, the AAP surprised political pundits and trend-watchers this election by routing Congress and thwarting BJP’s march toward getting the magic number of 36, thus throwing the city into a hung assembly. BJP closed at 32 seats while AAP closed at a whopping 28. AAP’s chief and elected as the New Delhi constituency’s candidate Arvind Kejriwal stormed the three-time Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit, hammering her down with over 25,000 votes.
The AAP has actually brought the common man back in the game and has proved its power yet again. While for now, when the future of the Delhi assembly is still awaited, the Aam Aadmi (common man -post performing as promised) can just keep its fingers crossed, hope for the best and now wait for the AAP to get started on their manifesto.
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