Strong sentiment in Delhi for change: BJP

BJP claimed it would get a clear majority in Delhi Assembly elections saying there is a strong anti-incumbency against Congress and dismissed Aam Admi Party.

New Delhi: BJP on Monday claimed it would get a clear majority in the Delhi Assembly elections saying there is a strong anti-incumbency against Congress and dismissed Aam Admi Party as one which is visible in the media but lacks support on the ground. "There is a strong sentiment in Delhi for change. The anti-incumbency is so strong here that it would be very difficult for Congress to sustain itself," Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley told reporters.

His Lok Sabha counterpart Sushma Swaraj echoed these views, saying there is double anti-incumbency against the Congress- both at the Centre and in Delhi. Pointing out the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul from the campaign, Jaitley said the real defeat for a party is when it stops making an effort to win. "In the last two weeks, the top leadership of the Congress has abandoned it," he said. BJP dismissed AAP as an also-ran which will not win any seats. "AAP has been making claims about seats and votes. I want to say with a sense of responsibility that people do not want to waste their vote. Our experience shows that when a person wants to throw out a party (Congress) he does not want to waste his vote. People see BJP as the alternative," Swaraj said. Rubbishing AAP`s claims of getting 44 to 47 seats, she said the party is day-dreaming and this dream will be broken on December 4 when polling takes place. Jaitley maintained that AAP is visible only in the media and there is a big gap between its visibility and its real strength on the ground. He said AAP will not win any seats. Asked about Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit`s charge that BJP is responsible for the recent Muzaffarnagar riots, Swaraj said, "Does she not remember the 1984 (anti-Sikh) riots when she says Congress is not involved in riots? Seems she has forgotten 1984."