How to lose an election the BJP way, and how to win AAP-style

The News Minute | February 10, 2015 | 1.06 pm ISTThe juggernaut can only decimate what is in its path because of the numerous individuals who make it possible. The word’s origins like not in the English language or even the West, but in Puri, a town in coastal Odisha. The Chariot of Lord Jagannatha of Puri is pulled in procession ever year, and awed by its sight, the British began to refer to it. The word juggernaut, then is a corruption of the word Jagannatha.The Delhi election results are peculiar, even more so, when one considers the recent shift in Indian politics that began before the Lok Sabha election. Intoxicated by its own sense of power, led by the Modi-Shah “juggernaut”, the BJP thought nothing could go wrong and that it could do no wrong. Even when exit polls showed that the Aam Aadmi Party was ahead, the BJP exuded confidence that its cadre had worked hard on the ground and therefore, they would win. On Tuesday, there wasn’t anybody who wasn’t surprised by the sheer numbers: AAP 67 seats, BJP 3 and a duck for the Congress. On so many levels, records were set. Given the sheer rollercoaster that was Kejriwal’s year, it is indeed very surprising that the party swept the polls in the manner that it did.Read: Kiran, who? Vikas Bedi you meanDoes this mean that if you have a genuine programme – like the mohalla sabha and participatory approach – and significantly if you apologise and are not ashamed of it, you can actually be a credible force in the polls. So far, the BJP’s vote share has not decreased significantly, but the AAP’s is 54 percent, taking a bite out of the Congress.Read: Delhi elections farce: booklets about u-turns, talk about gardens and starsOr that no matter how many candidates you poach – sorry attract – to your party, if they are bad, then they will lose. So how did the Modi-Shah juggernaut get stalled by the broom? Instead of giving you gyaan or hi funda political analysis, because no one seems to have a clue how this happened, we just have an infographic giving you a recap of what Arvind Kejriwal did this last year.Tweet