Coming back to Delhi, it is a small city state. It needed the BJP to plan as a city party. It needed to project a mayor for a city state. While opposition had a clear face with a solid vote bank, BJP asked for votes without any “mayor”. It was a major flaw. Local leadership of BJP seemed to have already given up, till Amit Shah made it into a fight. You can’t throw out a populist CM only with rhetoric in a two-week-long campaign. The BJP needs to project a leader to gain its place in next five years.

That Shaheen Bagh blockade turned out to be a non issue may be a surprise for BJP leaders. But voter seemed to have discriminated between national and local self interest.