The countdown has begun for an interesting electoral battle in Delhi with the Election Commission announcing the schedule for the Assembly election. In a month from now the Capital will choose its government for the next five years. So far the Aam Aadmi Party appears to have the edge but the BJP may well pull off a surprise riding on the popularity of its favourite mascot, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The tone and tenor of the forthcoming election campaign became clear soon after the EC announcement: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted urging Delhi’ites to vote for AAP if they feel it has done good work and promised to run a positive campaign, not an abusive one like his rivals. Home Minister Amit Shah, on the other hand, took Kejriwal head on, accusing him of protecting the tukde tukde gang, an amorphous term for student protesters in JNU and allied universities.

He also said the chief minister had failed to fulfill several of his electoral pledges such as the free WiFi scheme and CCTV cameras. Kejriwal’s strategy is clearly to single-mindedly focus on bread and butter issues as a counterweight to any bid to polarise the electorate by the BJP. In fact, the Delhi CM has been extremely muted on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the widespread protests against it.

At his public interactions he touts his government’s achievements on education, health, power and water while promising to tackle issues such as cleaning the Yamuna and combating pollution in the event of his returning to power for another five years. Contentious issues are clearly off the table for Kejriwal. The BJP on the other hand, is ratcheting up the pro-CAA campaign in the Capital, hoping that it will have some resonance with its dedicated votebank and some new converts.

The saffron party has not projected a chief ministerial face, banking on the Modi magic to see it through. The outcome of recent state polls where the party has suffered reverses despite the Modi factor may prompt a rethink but finding someone to match Kejriwal’s earthy charisma will be an uphill task. The confrontationist chief minister of a couple of years ago who was constantly on a collision course with the Centre and its representative, the Lieutenant Governor, has been replaced by a mellow politician.

This change occurred after the 2019 Lok Sabha election verdict when the AAP perhaps realised that it was best to consolidate its gains and focus on Delhi rather than spread the party’s wings to other parts of the country. Whether this is part of the gameplan devised by JD-U leader and election strategist Prashant Kishor, who is now advising AAP, is in the realm of speculation. As for the Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 years continuously under Sheila Dikshit, the hope is to improve on its zero score of 2015 and bag at least a few seats.