NEW DELHI, Feb 4, (AP): The resurgent Hindu nationalist party of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is eyeing a state legislature election in Delhi where it is looking to unseat the governing movement which has led the Indian capital for over a decade but has recently been embroiled in graft allegations. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which failed to secure a majority of its own in last year's national election but formed the government with coalition partners, has gained some lost ground by winning two state elections in northern Haryana and western Maharashtra states.

It is up against the Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP, led by Arvind Kejriwal, that runs Delhi and has built a huge support base on the back of its popular welfare policies. Delhi, a city of more than 20 million people, is a federal territory which Modi’s party has not been able to win for over 27 years, despite having a sizeable support base in the capital.

The polls open on Wednesday, with results due on Saturday. Both Modi and Kejriwal have offered to revamp government schools, free health services and electricity, and a monthly stipend of over 2,000 rupees ($25) to poor women. Modi's party, in particular, is hoping to better its tally from the previous election after last week's budget that slashed income tax on the salaried middle class, one of its key vote block.

Kejriwal’s party won 62 out of 70 seats in the last election, held in 2020. "Publicity wise, the BJP seems ahead of the AAP because it has more significant resources,” said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a political analyst, who added that it will be difficult for the BJP to dislodge the AAP because of its popularity among voters

. India’s main opposition Congress party is also in the Delhi race, but many poll experts believe it has run a lackluster campaign and is expected to fare poorly. Claiming himself to be an anti-corruption crusader, Kejriwal is Delhi’s former top elected official and a fierce critic of Modi. He formed the AAP in 2012 after tapping into public anger against the then Congress party government over a series of corruption scandals. His pro-poor policies have focused on fixing state-run schools and providing cheap electricity, free health care and bus transport for women.