The election excitement has calmed down following the end of campaigning and the counting and announcement of the results. The significant outcome in Delhi, favoring the BJP, has granted the saffron party a resounding majority with 48 seats, marking a historic win after a 27-year gap. In contrast, AAP has faced a severe setback, managing to secure only 22 seats, a stark decline from the 62 assembly seats it won in the 2020 elections. Now, AAP must adapt to its new role as the opposition party in the Delhi assembly, a position for which it seems ill-prepared and unwilling. The election results not only represent a major blow to AAP but also threaten its future viability. AAP had previously triumphed in the 2015 and 2020 Delhi elections by leveraging poll freebies and populist politics. However, these same tactics failed to save AAP in the crucial 2025 elections. It appears that the middle class, poorer communities, and Muslim voters in Delhi were dissatisfied with the freebie and populist offers, leading those who once supported AAP in the previous elections to abandon the party and its leader, Arvind Kejriwal. Consequently, the reliance on freebies and populist politics has left Kejriwal in a difficult position, shattering his aspirations of becoming Delhi's chief minister for a record third consecutive term.
AAP couldn’t even get to the magical number of 36, so Kejriwal had to face the harsh reality that the results were actually against his party. Except interim Chief Minister Atishi who won by a narrow margin of 600 votes, Kejriwal and other top leaders of his party lost. All the tall claims by Kejriwal and his team about developing Delhi — schools, healthcare, etc — didn’t translate into votes for him to become the Sultan of Delhi for the third time. Instead people of Delhi chose BJP and gave them 48 seats, way above the required number to form the government. This means the people of Delhi were thoroughly unimpressed by the freebie politics of Kejriwal and his team and hence a huge defeat for AAP. A interesting aspect of Delhi polls was that the freebies offered by Kejriwal were overshadowed by the promises made by BJP, AAP’s freebies couldn’t compete with BJP’s better offers. So AAP couldn’t make an impact on its core voters and hence a big setback that will take years for the party to recover from to regain Delhi.
People in Delhi now view the BJP as the savior of Hindus, a party that embodies good governance and development. These positive perceptions have significantly boosted the BJP's electoral prospects, leading to an absolute majority in the assembly polls. The relevance of the BJP is not just high in Delhi but across all of India. Currently, the NDA is in power in 19 states and 2 Union Territories, in addition to holding the national government. The results from Delhi will further solidify its influence nationwide and are expected to positively affect the Bihar elections in November 2015, followed by the UP elections and other state polls. The BJP is steadily consolidating its position, winning elections one after another. Recently, the party secured victories in Haryana and Maharashtra, validating the accuracy of exit polls, as seen in the Delhi election results.
Kejriwal’s rise from an anti-corruption crusader to a freebie peddler has slowed down and now BJP has taken the centre stage and AAP and its leader is playing second fiddle. Kejriwal’s chemistry with the LG of Delhi is deteriorating and to great dismay of him, the middle class of Delhi is also getting against him. All these factors have led to AAP’s downfall and its leadership is crumbling like a pack of cards. Kejriwal’s rise to power was a political revolution but now AAP is facing anti-incumbency, aggressive campaigning and BJP’s developmental agenda which has appealed to all sections of society. BJP’s comeback after 27 years is a big milestone in Indian politics. It is fair to say that the poll freebies have significantly weakened Kejriwal, and it will take considerable time for him and his AAP to regain political dominance in Delhi and beyond, a task that seems incredibly challenging, if not impossible.
(Vivek Koul)
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