Delhi may not be a full state or may not have a large assembly but it punches way above its weight in terms of political influence and public discourse. Indeed, the just-concluded election for the Delhi Assembly holds more than one political message of vital national implications. To begin with, it impedes the expansion of the most successful political start-up in recent times — Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which is only the fourth party after Congress, BJP and CPI(M) to hold power in more than one State legislature. The loss of over 10 percentage points in vote share — from a staggering 53.57 per cent which gave AAP 62 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly in 2020 to 43.57 per cent and 22 seats in the current polls — indicates popular disillusionment with AAP. While most of AAP’s leading lights, including Kejriwal, lost their seats, BJP secured 45.56 per cent of the votes. It could be difficult for Kejriwal to recover from this loss.
Secondly, the BJP has once again established its political supremacy with the Delhi results, coming after its electoral triumphs in Maharashtra and Haryana. The ruling party’s Lok Sabha setback is ancient history now; the party has underscored its skills in campaign strategy, organisational efficiency and political messaging. The BJP’s deployment of central agencies to punish its political opponents would not have worked with Kejriwal had he not been on a slippery wicket with the liquor scam; worse, he refurbished the official CM residence into a grand edifice that contrasted with his carefully cultivated ‘aam aadmi’ image.
Another clear political trend is the glaring gap between the Congress’s ambition and ability, that places it at odds with its INDIA partners. In three successive Lok Sabha and four Assembly elections in Delhi, the Congress has come up with zilch. Its ambition to revive in the Capital was not matched by any real effort to crank up its organisation. As Prime Minister Modi observed, it, in fact, contributed to AAP’s defeat. In as many as 13 constituencies, the number of votes that the Congress got was higher than the margin of the BJP’s victory. It was a sad spectacle to see the grand old party lose its deposit in 67 of the 70 seats it contested. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah summed up the sentiment among the opposition alliance partners in his post on X – “Aur Lado, ji bhar ke lado. Samapt kar do eik doosre ko (fight each other to your heart’s content. Finish each other)”.
Congress’s existential crisis and its tendency of cannibalising its allies has been a cause of unease within the INDIA coalition. It remains to be seen how the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) responds to it in the upcoming Bihar elections. Delhi has certainly upended political equations so carefully worked out during the Lok Sabha polls.