Party report cards

What was promised in 2014 by the Capital’s parties is a far cry from what was delivered in the last 4-5 years. A comparative analysis

In preparing a report card of Delhi’s three main political outfits — BJP, AAP and Congress — one has to keep in mind whether each party was in a position to keep their promise. The BJP was the most influential party while the Congress was voted out of power from both Union and state governments. Yet, as the charts below show, the BJP veered off in different directions and did not care to stick to its own manifesto while the fledgeling party AAP stayed with its agenda, though with limited success.

Bharatiya Janata Party 2014 manifesto for Delhi

For the first time in the last general election, BJP issued a Delhi-specific manifesto. This was understandable, for the party had lost all the seven seats to the Congress in 2009. It went on to win all the seven seats and a majority in the Lok Sabha. BJP was the party in power and therefore in a position to fulfil promises made on the manifesto.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 2014 manifesto

Before we tackle AAP’s promises, it has to be qualified that Kejriwal had a running battle with the Modi government. Its power was severely truncated for good part of its tenure after the Delhi High Court concluded that the LG is the administrative head. In any case, agencies like DDA and Delhi Police report to the Union government, ministries of Urban Development and Home, respectively, via LG. So AAP had limited power to implement its set of promises.

Congress Party

The Congress party has not won a single Lok Sabha seat in Delhi since 2009, and not a single seat in state legislature in the last Assembly elections of 2015. In the light of these election debacles, they have had no mandate to implement their manifesto. But here are some of the points…