With an announcement of the 70 assembly seats in Delhi in a single phase on February 5 and the votes will be counted on February 8 by the Election Commission (EC), the stage is set for a fierce triangular contest between the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Congress. The battle lines are drawn between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s developmental model versus the ‘ freebies’ model touted by the AAP chief and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is eyeing a hat-trick, having swept the 2015 and 2020 elections with 67 and 62 seats, respectively.
The AAP faces anti-incumbency, corruption allegations and an aggressive BJP in its bid to assume power for a third successive term. The Congress will be keen to regain the national Capital. Although the Congress and the AAP contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together as part of the INDIA bloc, they will be competing separately in the upcoming Assembly polls.
Announcing the dates for the Assembly polls in Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said “It is a single-phase election… We have deliberately kept polling on a Wednesday so more people come out to vote… like we did in Maharashtra. The entire election process will be completed by February 10.”
With the EC’s announcement of the election schedule, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is now in effect and will remain so until the conclusion of the polls.
The last date to file nominations is January 17 and the scrutiny of nominations will be done by January 18. Candidates will be able to withdraw their nominations till January 20. Of the 70 seats in Delhi, 58 are general and 12 reserved.
According to the electoral roll, Delhi has 1.55 crore voters -- 83.49 lakh men, 71.74 lakh women and 1,261 transgender persons. There are 25.89 lakh young voters, 2.08 lakh first-time voters, and 830 above the age of 100, Kumar said. More than 13,000 polling stations will be set up in Delhi, he said.
Kumar has urged candidates and political party leaders to refrain from making remarks against women and involving children during poll campaigns. He was asked about the recent comment made by BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri against Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
In 2020, the elections were announced on January 6, polling was held on February 8, and votes were counted on February 11. The 70-member Assembly’s term concludes on February 23, necessitating elections before that to form a new House.
Except for the Lok Sabha polls last year when AAP and Congress joined hands and together got an impressive vote share of 43.1%, the two parties-despite having a similar vote bank-have always contested separately. However, while AAP’s vote share, since its maiden election in 2013, was constantly on the higher side, the number of people voting for Congress decreased significantly in the last decade.
With its surprise performance in 2013, when it got 29% of the total votes polled and won 28 of the 70 seats, AAP dug into Congress’ vote bank, pushing the grand old party to third position with 24.5% votes and just eight seats. In subsequent assembly polls in 2015 and 2020, Congress’ vote share further fell to 9.7% and 4.3%, respectively, while AAP won a massive mandate with 54.6% and 53.6% vote share.
The BJP has been able to improve its assembly election vote share during the decade of the AAP’s rise in Delhi. It got 33.1% vote share in 2013, 32.2% in 2015 and 38.5% in 2020. However, its number of seats drastically went down from 31 in 2015 to 3 in 2015 and 8 in 2020. In the last three Lok Sabha polls, it has made a clean sweep in Delhi, bagging vote share higher than that of the AAP and Congress combined.
BJP is always considered a party of the middle and upper-middle-class people, with the trading community as its staunch supporters, Congress in Delhi-till the 2008 assembly polls when it formed govt in the city for the last time-was known for representing the poor, the Dalit, and the Muslim community.
The high-stakes Assembly election will feature a fierce contest between former MP Parvesh Verma, son of the late Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma, Former MP Sandeep Dikshit from Congress and AAP leader and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the New Delhi seat. Similarly, former MP Ramesh Bidhuri of BJP and Congress’s Alka Lamba will face off against Chief Minister Atishi from Kalkaji.
The Assembly elections are being seen as a prestige battle for all camps. The BJP is making all-out attempts to come back to power in Delhi after over 25 years focussing on its slogan “Parivartan” (change) and a targeted campaign against the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP over corruption allegations, relying on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its face yet again. Meanwhile, the BJP, boosted by its clean sweep in the Delhi Lok Sabha polls and thumping victories in Haryana and Maharashtra, has coined the word ‘AAPda’ (disaster) to launch a blistering attack against the ruling party. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at ‘Parivartan Rally’ in Rohini last week made the party’s intentions clear giving the call “Aapda (AAP) nahi sahenge, badal kar rahenge” (won’t tolerate the disaster (AAP), will bring change”).
The BJP has an uphill task against the AAP which has a strong support base in the slums, unauthorised colonies, minority-dominated areas, lower middle class localities. It has so far failed to come up with announcements to tackle AAP’s promises like honorarium to women and priests. Prime Minister Modi has, however, assured that public welfare schemes of the current government will continue.
The AAP, battling a wave of corruption allegations, is pushing hard for a third term, focusing on the announcement of welfare schemes - enhancing the monthly grant to non-tax paying women to Rs 2,100 if voted back to power; healthcare coverage for all Delhi voters over the age of 60 in government as well as some private hospitals.
Simiarly, it has also taken recourse to “soft Hindutva” to nullify the BJP’s “Chunavi Hindu” charge by promising Rs 18,000 monthly compensation to temple priests and gurdwara granthis. Many in AAP have acknowledged that the February 2025 polls are the party’s “toughest yet.”
Kejriwal, who stepped down as Chief Minister after he was granted bail in a corruption case, is leading the party’s campaign. It also relies on the immense popularity of the free water, free 200 units of power per month, and free bus rides for women schemes.
Campaigns like ‘Revdi Par Charcha’ ensure these benefits remain in public focus, showcasing AAP’s consistent voter outreach. Insiders say anti-incumbency looms large, with AAP completing more than a decade in power. Many voters might feel the need for change, which could affect the party’s chances.
Corruption allegations and arrests of key leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, have tarnished the party’s clean image. Leadership transitions and internal rifts, including departure of key figures like Kailash Gahlot, signal instability that could weaken its campaign. The ‘Sheesh Mahal’ controversy has dented Kejriwal’s image, with the BJP using it to fuel its campaign against AAP
The Congress, unrepresented in the Delhi assembly Since 2015, is desperately trying to gain a foothold in the February 5 elections. To counter AAP’s Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojna of a monthly assistance of Rs 2,100 post elections, the Congress has announced ‘Pyaari Didi Yojana’ where it promised a monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,500 to women if voted to power. In this election, all the senior leadership of the state unit have been fielded - Sheila Dikshit’s son Sandeep Dikshit, Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav, All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba, and former Delhi minister Haroon Yusuf. After two consecutive election losses, the party’s lower cadres may be short on motivation, which could hinder its campaign efforts. If Congress fails to make any significant gains in this election, it could face the real possibility of being wiped out from the Delhi political landscape. Strong presence of AAP and BJP, along with their well-established support bases, poses a major threat to Congress’ chances of regaining power.
The Congress has fielded former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s son and two time MP Sandeep Dikshit from New Delhi Seat against Kejriwal. BJP has given ticket to former MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma , son of former Chief Miniter Sahib Singh Verma. It has also fielded Alka Lamba against Atishi from Kalkaji.So far, the Delhi Congress has announced 48 candidates for the upcoming elections, with its first list released on December 12 last year and the second on December 24.
