Yo BJP, take it easy. It's just Delhi

The BJP should chill. Several pre-poll surveys are saying the Aam Aadmi Party is likely to manage a majority in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. Surveys have come a cropper (like the ones in 2013 that said AAP will get very few seats), some have come close and very few have been exact. Not every election can be won.

Also why should the BJP cry itself hoarse before the results come in on February 10? Wait till then. What's the big deal about losing Delhi?

Delhi is not a state. It is just short of being that. However much the Delhi government wants statehood, under any party, it may not get what it wants since the seat of central power also resides here. So Delhi can't have two equal masters. Since it's not a state, the excise and other revenues are bound to be less as the National Capital Territory is not rich in any ultra sought after mineral resource. It's not Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka or Haryana which generate much more money.

Yes, losing Delhi is a hit on the perception that the Modi wave is holding strong or is still growing in strength. But, again, not every election can be won. To continue to score high on perception, riding the media crest is as essential as visible in the May 2014 victory. But now that things look shaky in Delhi, the prime minister himself has cast doubts on the fidelity of his best friend last year by calling the press "bazaaru" (loose/easy-to-purchase). Further, PM Modi is being deployed ad infinitum to shore up numbers, giving a disorienting feeling as if the Lok Sabha elections are still on and he's the lone overworked jack-in-the-box. Maybe the BJP should not get that desperate and make the PM sound jaded. Even in the world of comics, Spiderman's popularity ratings have fallen in Jonah Jameson's Daily Bugle.

Surprise of surprises, CPM boss Prakash Karat has said it will support Arvind Kejriwal's party barring the 15 in which it has put up candidates. Now this is what the BJP should be bothered about if there will be a takeaway from Delhi, though it will be difficult to replicate elsewhere: the broad anti-BJP coalition without the Congress.

Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand are in the BJP kitty, and the party's had an impressive show in Jammu and Kashmir. There are many more things to be done ahead of the next big ticket in Bihar later this year. Also, it's not worth the stress to worry over Delhi when you have India to rule for the next four-plus years. Even if one sleeps for four hours or less.