The decisive victory by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Delhi state election has further cemented Modi’s dominance over national politics and dealt a big blow to rival Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The results of last week’s election, announced on Saturday, saw BJP reclaim power in Delhi after 27 years, winning 48 of the 70 seats in the Delhi legislative assembly and ousting AAP from its decade-long rule in the state. Kejriwal lost his seat as chief minister to BJP’s Parvesh Verma in the state, while AAP secured only 22 seats.
The win for Modi’s BJP marked a triumphant return for the party after it lost an outright majority in last year’s parliamentary elections and was its third significant success in state elections after securing unexpected victories in the states of Haryana and Maharashtra in late 2024.
Kejriwal’s rise to power a decade ago was driven by public outrage over corruption, but analysts have suggested that his appeal was waning amid controversies, including an ongoing investigation into AAP officials over an alleged liquor distribution bribery scheme.
The clamour for change of power grew louder in the Delhi state as AAP had fallen short on its poll pledges over healthcare and jobs, though it retained its loyalty among the poor through free electricity and water up to certain levels as well as providing quality school education, the analysts added.
“BJP managed to inch past AAP by wooing the middle class who had turned away from the party [BJP] 27 years ago. Kejriwal wanted to focus on the bottom of the pyramid, but only succeeded partially once his anti-corruption image faded away,” said Yashwant Deshmukh, an independent political commentator and founder of C-Voter, a voter research firm.