Parliamentary And Assembly Election Are Two Different Aspects, Says Expert

Political expert Apoorvanand said voters, who support a particular party in the Lok Sabha election, can vote against the same party in the Assembly poll.

New Delhi: Even as the top three-star campaigners for BJP including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are all set for a mega campaign for the party, political experts believe that Parliamentary election and Assembly election are two different aspects.

"Voters, who support a particular party in the Lok Sabha election, can vote against the same party in the Assembly poll,” said Professor Apoorvanand, a political expert who teaches at Delhi University.

Stating that the Lok Sabha election can also have an impact on the Assembly election, he said, “It does not happen with all the constituencies all the time.”

“Very often we have seen the same constituency and the same voter deciding differently in different elections. In Delhi, we have seen a pattern where the voters who voted for Kejriwal or AAP in the last Assembly election, voted for BJP in Lok Sabha. That has been observed in the last election and this can happen this time too. The voters can again go for AAP in Vidhan Sabha, even though they have voted for BJP in Lok Sabha,” said Professor Apoorvanand.

Modi, Shah and Yogi are all set to campaign for the party candidates after the Republic Day celebrations.

The Strategy

Both BJP and AAP have been doing their election campaign with 40-star campaigners each. Congress on the other hand is also not lagging behind. Interestingly, the alliance partners in the INDIA bloc, including Congress and AAP, have been contesting the Delhi election separately while attacking each other over many issues along with the BJP.

The BJP-led NDA is fighting together as BJP has announced its candidates on 68 seats out of 70, leaving two seats of Burari for Shailendra Kumar from Janata Dal (United) and Deoli for Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).

“In Assembly elections, local issues do matter. In Parliamentary democracy MPs are lawmakers and people elect them to make laws. But even in Lok Sabha elections, local matters become important. For example, the party’s claims that they will make roads and build hospitals in constituencies. But allegations are made that an individual after becoming an MP for five years, did not do anything for the constituency. However, that is not the job of an MP to build hospitals or roads. It has become a trend in India. Although local issues play their role in Assembly elections, larger issues do matter including what ideology that party represents,” the expert said.

Trend Of Result

In the 7th Delhi Legislative Assembly, 62 MLAs are from Aam Aadmi Party which constitutes 89 per cent of the total assembly seats. On the other hand, eight MLAs are from Bharatiya Janata Party which is 11 per cent of the total assembly seats.

The AAP had 67 MLAs after its debut election in 2015 followed by 3 from BJP. Interestingly, the BJP has bagged all the seven Lok Sabha seats from Delhi in the 2024 Parliamentary election.

The prospect of AAP, BJP and Congress

According to Prof. Apoorvanand, Congress has not deployed its all organisational energy in this election. “Congress’s action forced people to choose between AAP and BJP. There is a section of the electorate, who want to vote for Congress. They also opine that their vote does not go waste if they vote in Congress. So, in this present scenario, it’s a fight between AAP and BJP. However, if Congress gets its acts together then things can go in different directions,” said Prof Apoorvanand.

Lok Sabha election

The Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of people chosen by direct election on the basis of Universal Adult Suffrage. The Constitution of India allows for a maximum of 550 members in the House, with 530 members representing the States and 20 representing the Union Territories. At present, the Lok Sabha has 543 seats filled by elected representatives. The term of the Lok Sabha, unless dissolved, is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting.

Members of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India, are elected directly by vote. The candidate is selected from the set of those candidates who participate in elections in their respective constituencies.

Assembly Election

Assembly elections refer to the electoral process through which Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) are elected in each state and Union Territory. Also known as Vidhan Sabha elections, assembly polls are held periodically to determine the composition of state and UT governments. The MLAs elected in the assembly elections play a pivotal role in shaping state policies, enacting laws, and overseeing the administration of their states.