Delhi thumbs up for “Modi ki Guarantees”. Breaking the 27-year jinx of not being able to win elections in Delhi, the BJP on Saturday crushed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi by winning 48 seats, 12 more than the majority mark with vote share of 45.56 percent of the 70 seats of Delhi Assembly.
AAP managed to win only 23 seats with 43.57 percent vote share. The win comes on the back of big Assembly poll victories by the BJP in Maharashtra and Haryana as it pulled off a magic victory, where it was seen as heading for a defeat.
The victory in Delhi is also a reaffirmation of the “Modi’ ki guarantees” at a time when all the parties are vying with each other on welfare politics. This is also an indication of the credibility of the PM’s promise of “good governance.
This is one of the biggest setback to the AAP since it first came to power in Delhi in 2013, effectively changing the national political landscape. The defeats of AAP bigwigs Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Satyendra Jain mean that the AAP cannot even claim moral victory in the polls that have seen the BJP returning to power in Delhi after a gap of more than 27 years.
For many, these elections aren’t just about Delhi either. The verdict today will have far-reaching implications for national politics. The focus has now shifted to who would be the BJP’s chief ministerial face.
BJP’s decimation of a plucky and ambitious opposition satrap in Arvind Kejriwal, who has led the AAP to the status of a national party, in his bastion is a hammer blow to the already disjointed INDIA bloc, which has suffered a string of reverses following its spirited performance in the Lok Sabha polls.
The organised thousands of small meetings alongwith BJP and RSS cadre with different sections of society - traders, auto-rickshaw drivers, youth and women across the national capital with focus on the poor - to reach out to them.
The big rallies were limited to the top leaders while the party’s local leaders focused on small meetings, including drawing room ones. The slogan like ‘Batoge to katoge’ helped the people to unite against the minority. Besides, BJP’s campaign, shaped by an emphasis on the Modi government’s achievements helped the party break its capital jinx of 27 years.
The election was a battle of prestige for both the BJP and AAP, given Delhi’s symbolic importance as the country’s capital. For the BJP, securing Delhi represents more than just electoral success - it would mark a crucial foothold in the nation’s capital after being out of power there since 1998.
The BJP’s hyper-localised campaign targeting the AAP’s loyal base among the poor with its welfare promises and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s depiction of Delhi’s ruling party as “AAP-da” seemed to have connected big time with the city’s voter.
The BJP campaign featuring leaders from across the country - chief ministers, Union ministers and NDA constituents reached out to specific regional groups in the national capital; freebies offered by AAP were countered by “Modi’s guarantee,” which appeared to find favour with voters; Substantial ground work by RSS and like-minded organizations; Wooing the middle class with announcements of income tax relief in the Union Budget and BJP ran a localised campaign highlighting civic issues such as lack of roads, irregular water supply, air pollution, and non-functional mohalla clinics.
While AAP had a clear CM face in Arvind Kejriwal, BJP relied solely on Modi’s towering influence. Despite lacking a projected CM candidate, BJP’s campaign focused on PM Modi’s appeal, which outshone Kejriwal’s image-tarnished by corruption scandals and the Sheesh Mahal controversy. PM Modi’s direct appeal to Delhi voters for a double-engine government-one that would align with the Centre to accelerate development-resonated deeply.
A BJP leader cited Modi’s coinage of the term “AAP-da” (disaster) in his first political rally for the polls on January 3 to slam the AAP as the moment when the party started gaining over its rival in the perception battle.
Modi followed this up with the assurance two days later in an another meeting that the party will not shut any existing welfare scheme if elected to power, he said, adding that, it gave them a big plank to convinced poor residents living slums and unauthorised colonies to give the BJP a chance. These poor voters used to vote for the Congress and then shifted entirely to the AAP, but the BJP had this a concrete agenda to win them over, more so as the Congress is no longer a viable option to them.
AAP’s bigwigs Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia , Saurabh Bharadwaj and Somnath Bharti were felled by the BJP. Kejriwal’s loss in New Delhi proved the adage — ‘Pride hath its fall’ — true. From ‘Modi ji hume haraane ke liye doosra janam lagega’ to ‘Ummeed hai ki BJP apne waade pure karegi’, the fall was just too quick for the AAP supremo.
For the AAP, losing out on its citadel, from where it started and built its welfare politics, poses existential questions for the party. The Delhi election results have dashed hopes of the AAP for a fourth consecutive victory. Congress, which has faced two consecutive electoral defeats, could not open account in this high-stakes battle as well.