The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged victorious in the Delhi Assembly elections 2025, securing 48 seats out of the 70-member Assembly. This marks a significant political shift after a gap of 27 years, as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had previously dominated the Assembly with 62 seats, has seen a dramatic drop to just 22 seats. In AAP, some other notable losses are the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who has lost to Parvesh Verma of the BJP in New Delhi constituency, and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, and senior leader Somnath Bharti are some of the top AAP leaders who lost the election in their constituencies.
PM Modi’s Remarks at BJP Headquarters
After the announcement of the Delhi election results, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed an ecstatic crowd of BJP workers in the party headquarters. He profusely thanked the people of Delhi for supporting him so enthusiastically. Modi criticized the AAP leadership about their handling of governance during the COVID-19 pandemic, stating, “While the world was battling the Covid crisis, these individuals were engaged in constructing a grandiose ‘sheeshmahal’. He also reassured the people that the government under BJP will focus on the development of Delhi and told them that the coming double-engine government will work faster. To his luck, however, Modi told everyone that a lot-awaited CAG report for the Delhi chapter is going to reach the floor within the session period of this new assembly.
Why AAP Declines
These defeat reasons by multiple factors with mostly internal governance conflicts. In April 2024, several of the senior AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, were incarcerated in the eve of election. This really took a toll on AAP’s electoral mobilization. They did not provide guidance and motivation without them, and a feeling of disenchantment started to set in from within party circles. For good measure, AAP lost the MCD elections as well.
The BJP used various governance issues with AAP to its advantage. One such was the renovation controversy of Kejriwal’s official residence, which seemed too expensive and indulgent a spending by public funds. Other such issues related to water supply remained persistent along with stalled infrastructure projects. The prolonged power struggle between the AAP government and the Delhi Lieutenant Governor also created an atmosphere of instability, which many Delhi residents viewed as a failure of governance.
These factors made a huge swing in the sentiments of the voters, and this led to the BJP winning in a landslide while AAP fell into a dramatic slump. With the BJP now looking to form the next government in Delhi, everyone will be looking at how the party addresses the city’s most pressing challenges and delivers on promises of rapid development.
