Delhi goes to the polls at the end of this month. Who will occupy the treasury benches of the Delhi assembly after the elections?

Nothing is final as yet. But, the battle lines are drawn…quite literally. In fact, it is redrawn. The constituencies have been redrawn.

One the one hand we have the Congress party who is reluctant to announce its chief ministerial candidate in the event of its winning the election. The two-time winner and the present chief minister, Sheila Dikshit, is leading the poll campaign. But, she is unsure if she would lead the government if the Congress party is voted to power.

On the other hand we have the Bharatiya Janata Party which has announced Vijay Kumar Malhotra as its chief ministerial candidate far ahead of the elections. One wonders how long he would remain the chief minister if the BJP comes to power.

The last time the BJP came to power, we saw three chief ministers in five years. It started with Madan Lal Khurana who lost out to Sahib Singh Verma in a power struggle within the party. Sahib Singh Verma was later replaced by Sushma Swaraj. When they were voted out 10 years ago, Delhi was in a complete mess.

The ten years that followed saw Sheila Dikshit at the helm of affairs. Delhi has seen a lot of development under her consistent policies. The development is visible to the common man. She has almost changed the face of Delhi.

Now the Congress party is under pressure. The prices are touching the sky. The performance of the government is far from satisfactory on the terror front. That is not to say that it was any better under the BJP government. The BJP government was voted out because of soaring prices and there is nothing to indicate that the terror situation was any better under the BJP rule. Going by the past experience, there is also nothing to indicate that if they come to power, their chief minister would be retained for the full term.

The Bahujan Samaj Party is also beginning to emerge as a contender for power in the Delhi state though it is unlikely to have any significant showing this time.

Whoever comes to power, the important point is that the projects started by the present government should continue unhindered to ensure that we are ready for the commonwealth games. If that does not happen, we would not only lose our face but also suffer huge financial losses.

Irrespective of who comes to power in Delhi, Delhi needs a government that would sincerely work for the betterment of Delhi and not waste its time petty politics.