Modi\\\'s BJP crushed in Delhi poll

Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suffered a crushing defeat in Delhi's city election, undermining the Indian prime minister's image of political invincibility and showing the extent of disillusionment among the capital's voters after only eight months of BJP national government.
Arvind Kejriwal's upstart Aam Aadmi (Common Man) party, which has campaigned against corruption, won in 67 of Delhi's 70 assembly seats, with Mr Modi's BJP winning in only three.
The Congress party of Sonia Gandhi, which once dominated the city and the country, did not win a single seat. Working-class voters and religious minorities once loyal to Congress abandoned the party en masse and voted for the AAP.
AAP's victory was particularly embarrassing for Mr Modi since he had personally thrown his weight behind the BJP's campaign - he loomed larger in the election posters than last-minute BJP chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi - and had asserted the importance of the Indian capital because of its international profile.
The National Capital Territory's 17m inhabitants comprise a tiny fraction of India's 1.3bn people and the Delhi election was fought largely on local issues, but the BJP's defeat ends a string of Modi triumphs in state polls since his sweeping general election victory in May last year.
Indian business leaders and foreign investors remain solid supporters of Mr Modi and his agenda for developing the economy, even if they are as frustrated as the government by the difficulties the BJP faces in pushing reformist legislation through parliament.
The middle-class voters of Delhi, however, have declared their preference for Mr Kejriwal and his promise of clean government - in spite of the failure of his short-lived minority administration in the city a year ago.
"We are beginning to worry about a strong Modi, and Kejriwal is a low-cost local investment in opposition," said sociologist Dipankar Gupta. "For the so-called middle-class and above, some of them are beginning to think we do need some kind of opposition in politics."
Mr Modi now faces the prospect of the fiery Mr Kejriwal emerging as a lightning rod for dissent, especially over controversial policies seen as favouring big business at the expense of ordinary people. The AAP, for example, has already criticised the BJP's government's recent land acquisition ordinance, which seeks to make it easier for businesses to acquire farmland for infrastructure and industry.
"You'll have a party in power in Delhi which has the capacity to mobilise street protests right outside Race Course Road," said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president of the Centre for Policy Research, referring to Mr Modi's official residence. "But it's a weapon they'll have to use extremely sparingly, with careful political judgment."
Mr Kejriwal will also face headaches in trying to govern India's unwieldy capital city, whose inhabitants struggle with shortages of housing, water, power and lack of security - and where the national government controls important agencies, including the city police.
The AAP's ambitions go beyond Delhi to a fundamental transformation of India's money-driven political system. The party has called for a clean-up of India's opaque campaign financing and tough action against corrupt officials.
"It's a big leap for a small party like us but a small step in the direction of transforming Indian politics," said Yogendra Yadav, a senior AAP leader. "We'll sit down and think about how do we move forward from this victory."
The AAP's landslide victory was enabled by a near-total collapse of support for the Congress party, which could once rely on the support of the poor and of the Muslim minority, especially in contests against the Hindu nationalist BJP. The BJP's vote share of about a third was barely changed from a year ago.
The failure of Congress to win even a single seat in the city it had ruled for 15 years until 2013 highlights the crisis facing the party under the leadership of Mrs Gandhi and her son Rahul.
"Congress faces a crisis of its existence," says the AAP's Mr Yadav. "They don't seem to have the political will to lead the opposition, and that vacuum is waiting for a new player to come in. AAP would strive to occupy that space."
"The curve for Congress is becoming steeper and steeper," said Mr Mehta, the political analyst. "AAP will set the agenda for debate much more than Congress on issues like land acquisition and secularism."
FT Syndication Service