Ritu Jha-
The excitement was high at one of the Aam Admi Party’s (AAP) supporters’ home in Silicon Valley where mainly IT engineers watching the results of the Delhi Legislative Assembly election on Feb. 10. and they were sure AAP would win.
The election was held Feb 8, and AAP won 62 seats, whereas BJP won 8 and India’s grand old party Congress did not win a single seat.
However, AAP got five seats short of its 2015 election, whereas BJP earned five more than the previous election.
Santosh Addagulla and his friends told indica they were confident on the victory but were also afraid as you never know.
“He got what he deserved,” Addagulla pointing to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.
“Look BJP got 70 ministers, 11 CM and 300 MLA from Uttar Pradesh and lakhs of karyakartha (workers) from across the country along with the Home Minister Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, still they failed to win the Delhi election,” said silicon valley based Addagulla. “I personally see it is a victory for Delhi voters, they chose love over hate, education over propaganda, real news over fake news, and they chose real issues over controversial and emotional issues.”
The BJP tried to use and manipulate voters through personal attacks on Kejriwal and targeted people over Hindu -Muslim, Pakistan, Kashmir issue to manipulate voters, but it was all in vain.
When asked about the contribution from the AAP supporters based in the Bay Area, he said that the NRI has always been a big supporter of AAP and has not just contributed money but also has made phone calls in support.
What was more surprising, he said was that the BJP’s vote percentage increased, “I never thought the BJP could even get 40 percent, but they got 8 out of 70 seats even with so much protest against CAA, NRC.”
Another long time AAP supporter Prabhat K Sharma, based in silicon valley, who campaigned door to door in Kejriwal’s past election, said. “I bought a nonrefundable flight ticket for this election as well but due to visa issue I couldn’t go.”
On winning the election he said, “It’s his work and focus on education, healthcare, door step delivery, CCTV, and mohalla (neighborhood) clinics offering free medicine. Delhi people are well aware of his work,” Sharma said, “Real governance has made him win the election.”
Kejriwal wanted to focus and have debates on education, water, and electricity. The BJP was talking about Ram Mandir and Shaheen Bagh Kashmir and Delhi voters were well-aware of what politicians are saying.
AAP is an established party and won more than 56 percent. Our members hope one day he could be the prime minister India.
New Jersey based entrepreneur Amit Behere donated over $20,000 echoing Sharma, told indica that this win proves that what the AAP calls “politics of good governance and delivery” is viable in India and one can fight elections based on work and not what we refer to as “identity politics.”
A longtime supporter, Behere said he shared his support though fund raising and contributing money himself.
Behere said he is more than happy and relieved, “AAP needed this win desperately. But honestly, the country needed it too.”
“AAP’s victory is purely because of Kejriwal’s governance and delivery. I also believe that Muslims (and many traditional Congress supporters) voted for AAP so as not to split votes.”
“I am also very disappointed that BJP’s politics of absolutely unvarnished and naked hate for Muslims got them a bump of a few percent in vote share and 5 more seats. It is very troubling that we have 40% Delhiites (voters) who vote based on hate rather than work done.”
“But I am glad that far more than 40% voted correctly and defeated BJP’s agenda,” he said.
Dallas based Vijaylakshmi Nadar, another long time supporter of AAP and a journalist and Political activist told indica, “For the very first time since Independence, a fledgling political party like AAP, stuck to it’s agenda of work and development, and won comprehensively, to send hate and communal politics packing.”
She said their(AAP) spectacular win against all odds, will give them just the momentum they need to stick to their absolutely fresh narrative for Indian politics, otherwise stuck in religion/caste, appeasement.
The political party which has won with a margin of 53.5 % votes, has sent a strong message to the ruling party in the center and to all other political parties in the country that stick to promises made, deliver on them or risk being kicked out.
Their win shows that people can no longer be fooled by fake, negative nationalism and a gory Hindutva agenda of the Narendra Modi government. They are actually looking forward to a display of positive nationalism, which focuses on actual development work.
AAP’s spectacular win has especially warmed the hearts of volunteers and supporters all over USA, who have not only supported the party financially, with their own modest earnings, but have invested time and talent to spread the word of AAP. As immigrants in a foreign country, enjoying all the amenities that this country has to offer, they finally trust that only AAP can work to bring similar changes in India.
