(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January. The former journalist took on former Union minister Kapil Sibal and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in the national election from Chandni Chowk in Delhi.)With the dissolution of the Delhi Assembly, the uncertainty has ended - elections are likely to be held either in late January or the middle of February.
This election will be a battle between two approaches to change - one represented by Narendra Modi, the other by Arvind Kejriwal. Modi has already proved his mettle by sweeping the parliamentary elections and more recently, Maharashtra and Haryana; Kejriwal has to prove that his first triumph was not a fluke.
The second battle for Delhi is more difficult than the December 2013 election for BJP and AAP - admittedly, with the latter under much more pressure. AAP has been severely criticised for two reasons and this time, the party has to find suitable answers to these questions if it wants to remain relevant. A very strong section of society i.e. upper middle class and the rich have not forgiven Arvind for resigning from the post of chief minister in February.
The urban middle class was a huge fan of Arvind and AAP due to his commitment to eradicate corruption from the body politic of India. But his resignation after a mere 49 days in office has not gone down well with this class, and it believes that Arvind knew that he could not shoulder the responsibility of a chief minister, so he took an escape route.
Nobody has bought the argument that Arvind resigned due to his inability to get the Jan Lokpal Bill cleared in the legislature. Now, the biggest challenge before Arvind and his party is to make voters believe that they are not made of clay, will not run away, and will run the government for five years while presenting an alternate model of governance and development.
Arvind also has to prove to the world that agitationists can also be good administrators. He has already apologized to the people for his resignation, and is making every effort to make people believe that he will not be a pushover. His "sorry" has not cut much ice with the middle class and above, but those who are less economically prosperous seem to have understood. If AAP can convince them of the party's merits, then the BJP could have a really tough battle on its hands.
AAP has also been criticized as a one-issue party. The party was born from an anti-corruption movement. In December, the people of Delhi were in a different mood and had shown faith in a party which was just a year old. There was a wave in favor of AAP. But a year later, the wave has disappeared. AAP has to contest this election like any other party; it has to convince people that it has a blue-print to make Delhi a better city.
AAP has decided to launch a series of programmes under the banner of Delhi Dialogues. This will be an open interactive session between experts and political activists, and through a two-way dialogue and crowd-sourcing, solutions will be found to make Delhi a world-class city. This will help break the myth that AAP is a one-issue party and will demonstrate that it's no longer a party which specialises in dharna and agitations. The idea behind the Delhi Dialogues is to reinforce the fact that AAP is a futuristic and thinking party.
History has proved that it is not easy to transform one's image overnight. It requires iron will-power and great communication skills. AAP is up against a leader whose image has been successfully changed from a leader promoting hate to a darling of the masses. This was made possible by a media blitz and high-voltage PR exercise. The BJP has no dearth of money. The vulgar display of money will again be unleashed.
There will hardly be any space left for AAP in the media. Every inch of newspaper, TV, billboards will be occupied by Modi. AAP has to rely on the commitment of its thousands of volunteers to walk every conceivable corner of the capital to establish direct contact with voters. To capture the mind space of voters, it has to continuously innovate and be a step ahead of its rivals. The idea will be to force opponents to react and play on our turf.
Arvind Kejriwal vs Jagdish Mukhi of the BJP is one such innovative idea to set the agenda. The BJP was playing it safe by not naming any chief ministerial candidate. It knew nobody could match up to Arvind. AAP floated the name of Jagdish Mukhi, the former leader of the BJP in the legislature, as a potential contender for the chair of Delhi chief minister. The BJP found itself trapped and could not reply convincingly about why it is not projecting anyone this time, when it has, since the 1993 assembly elections, always declared its candidate for the campaign. This helped avoid a direct contest between Arvind and Modi.
But the battle has just begun. AAP could succeed in its mission if it keeps its rivals guessing.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.