Delhi 2024 Lok Sabha Election: AAP-Cong, BJP campaigns to focus on local, national issues

Delhi will vote in a single phase on May 25, according to the poll dates announced by the EC on Saturday.

With the Election Commission announcing the poll schedule for the upcoming general election, political parties are all set to begin their campaign.

The AAP, Congress and the BJP are likely to invoke both national and local issues during their election campaigns in Delhi-- the national capital that sends seven members to the Lok Sabha.

Delhi will vote in a single phase on May 25, according to the poll dates announced by the poll body on Saturday. Voting for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies will take place in seven phases starting from April 19. The poll outcome will be announced on June 4, according to the announcement by the Election Commission of India on Saturday.

While the BJP is expected to base its campaigns on the works done by the Narendra Modi government  across the country, alliance partners AAP and Congress will seek to challenge their rival on issues related to price rise, employment and even the recently implemented contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

In the face of threat of anti-incumbency, the BJP, which has won all seven Lok Sabha seats in 2014 as well as 2019, has replaced all its sitting MPs, except Manoj Tiwari.

The AAP and the Congress are contesting together as part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) grouping.

Revisiting 2014 & 2019 mandate

The BJP had won all seven seats in both 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Aam Aadmi Party, which had polled an impressive 33.1 per cent in its debut Lok Sabha election in 2014, put up a dismal performance and was relegated to the third position with its vote share down to 18.1 per cent in 2019.

After drawing a blank in the last two general elections (2014 and 2019), the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have allied with the national capital to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Here are key issues expected to dominate poll campaign:

• Ayodhya Ram temple consecration: The Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla's idol at a new grand temple in his birthplace in Uttar Pradesh will be one of the most important highlights of the BJP's campaign along with the party's resolve towards "Ram Rajya".

• Water and power schemes: Like in the Delhi assembly poll, the AAP expects its government's free water and electricity schemes to be major vote pullers also in the general elections. It seeks to target voters from the lower and middle-income groups.

• Implementation of CAA: Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP-led Centre announced the implementation of the CAA, which seeks to give citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. INDIA bloc parties AAP and Congress have claimed it will lead to "politics of polarisation".

• Narendra Modi factor: The BJP has relied on Prime Minister Modi's popularity and his government's schemes to woo voters during elections. This time too, it will be no different as the party will go to campaign with "Modi ki guarantee". Political observers have dubbed him a deciding factor in elections -- assembly or parliamentary.

• Scams and corruption: The BJP will raise the alleged Delhi excise policy scam and the arrest of former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh to target the AAP. It could also raise corruption cases such as the 2G, CWG and Bofors scams to hit out at the Congress.

• Raids against opposition leaders: The Congress and the AAP have been accusing the BJP-led Centre of using central agencies such as the CBI and the ED of targeting opposition leaders and have vowed to expose the BJP on this issue.

• Purvanchali voters: The Bhojpuri-speaking population from eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand form around one-third of the total voters in the national capital, according to estimates. The BJP, the AAP and the Congress are likely to come out with promises to woo them.