Opinion Popularity contest

There are few precedents of a direct electoral face-off between top political leaders. Sushma Swaraj famously took on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in Bellary in 1999 but strictly speaking,Swaraj was not quite the supreme leader of her party the way Kejriwal is of his fledgeling outfit.

Kejriwal’s staunchest backers in their most audacious dreams may not really see him as the giant killer he says he will be in the New Delhi constituency. But sharing a constituency with the CM will ensure eyeballs and OB vans — vanguards in a way of Anna Hazare,Arvind Kejriwal and their campaign.

Adept that he is in giving news-making soundbytes,in choosing to all but sacrifice himself,Kejriwal may ensure far more interest in the overall campaign of AAP than he could have had he chosen a “safe seat” such as Seemapuri where he has actually worked as an RTI activist.

He will not be the first leader of a debutant political party to take the tough-opponent-route to visibility. Recall Kanshiram contesting the Allahabad Lok Sabha seat in 1988 against V P Singh in the bye-elections after Amitabh Bachchan’s resignation. Singh romped home but a year later BSP had its first two members in Parliament.

Having habitually flaunted the “committed support” of thousands of people — most recently during the agitation against inflated power bills — Kejriwal is now targeting undecided voters on the fringes. It could just about help AAP scrape together some decent results,or so its leadership thinks.

Perhaps it is basing its assessment on public response to some recent AAP outings,like when Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai beat a sudden and hasty retreat after a few days in the Bawana slum that saw a devastating fire in April and when Kejriwal’s fast in Sundar Nagari played out to an empty gallery.

Abantika is an assistant editor based in Delhi

abantika.ghosh@expressindia.com