NEW DELHI: India’s capital province of Delhi began voting on Wednesday (Feb 5) in local elections with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vying to dislodge one of his chief opponents.
Delhi, a sprawling megacity home to more than 30 million people, has been governed for most of the past decade by charismatic Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Kejriwal rode to power as an anti-corruption crusader a decade ago, and his profile has bestowed upon him the mantle of being one of the chief rivals to Modi.
His popularity has been burnished by extensive water and electricity subsidies for the capital’s millions of poorer residents.
But he spent several months behind bars last year on accusations his party took kickbacks in exchange for liquor licences, along with several fellow party leaders, before being granted bail by the Supreme Court.
The BJP routinely invoked the corruption charges as it mounted a spirited campaign in the weeks leading to Wednesday’s vote, with Modi himself headlining several rallies.
