A first timer in Delhi’s electoral bazaar, feisty Supreme Court lawyer and national spokesperson for the BJP Meenakshi Lekhi believes she has a “120 per cent chance of winning”.

This may seem like bravado in a constituency – New Delhi – that the BJP hasn’t won since 1999.

The 30.8 lakh electorate has a sizeable population of Scheduled Castes (17 per cent) and Muslims (7 per cent).

The 2013 Assembly election outcome was equally disappointing.

The BJP won just three of the 10 Assembly segments while voting patterns of the last two elections suggest that only Greater Kailash-I, which accounts for 1.43 lakh votes, looks promising for this Parliamentary election.

Kasturba Nagar, Rajinder Nagar, Moti Nagar, Malviya Nagar and Delhi Cant are tagged as “battlegrounds”, by the BJP itself, while Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, RK Puram and New Delhi are labelled “difficult”.

However, Lekhi insists that her chances are promising since the Congress’s Ajay Maken is “a gumshuda saansad — 100 per cent absent and a non-achiever”.

Though Maken enjoys a fairly clean image, to the point of being called the right man in the wrong party, Lekhi says there are several allegations of corruption against him — apart from the Katputli and DDA scam — that merit investigation.

“Arvind Kejriwal of AAP has also been exposed. People were emotional in voting for him in the Assembly elections and will be equally emotional in voting him out now,” she says.

All for Modi Lekhi believes she is “blessed by destiny” since people want change and think Modi can deliver change to them; the BJP cadres are motivated by the Modi wave; and the BJP has won public confidence and secured organisational support by pitching the right candidates.

Will her aggressive image work with the 49 per cent women voters or will it go against her? Lekhi says in India, feminine strength, far from being perceived as a liability, is linked with divinity.

This is evident from the worship of goddesses Kali and Durga. Lekhi herself is armed with what she calls her punchnama in this electoral battle.

Priority of work The people (panchayat) will get to decide the priority of the work outlined in the punchnama in order to completely destroy the present foundation of Dusshasan; where there is fear of any sort — health, income, old age or even death, there must be security; where there is a jhuggi there must be a makaan ; where there is thirst, there must be clean drinking water; and where there is poverty, there must be employment.

Lekhi closes her campaign with her final punch: “ Kamal ko khilao aur keechad se nivriti pao (feed the lotus and escape the sludge).”

After all, she warns the crowds, “If you make the wrong choice by pressing the wrong button on April 10, it will translate into five years of suffering.”

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