Rekha Gupta was named as the next Chief Minister of Delhi as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a landmark victory in the capital. Winning a massive 48 out of the 70 seats, the BJP returned to power in Delhi after 26 years.
In a similar fashion to the previous elections, the seats were divided between the AAP and the BJP, with the Congress failing to win a single seat. However, the parity between the parties completely flipped over. The AAP had won a massive 62 of the 70 seats last time out, but only managed to win 22 seats. Reports say that they managed to retain their Muslim and Dalit-dominated areas, but ultimately fell short to the BJP.
Major controversies in the run-up to the elections were factors which led to the BJP’s landslide victory. For example, outgoing CM Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in March 2024 for his participation in a money laundering case, after his government introduced a policy to bring in private firms and enterprise companies into the retail liquor sector. He resigned in September 2024, with Atishi Marlena sworn in. The BJP also criticised the official residence of Kejriwal, dubbing it as ‘sheesh mahal’ (palace of mirrors) and accusing Kejriwal of having a wealthy makeover of the house in excess of 50 crore rupees. While the AAP categorically denied these claims, it was against the ‘common man’ image Kejriwal had created for himself and contributed massively to the downfall of the AAP.
Freebies became a major tool used by both parties to attract voters from lower socio-economic groups. While the BJP initially criticised AAP’s policy, they brought out a similar scheme, a tool that also led to their victory in the Maharashtra state assembly elections, where they and their allies won a whopping 235 of 288 seats.
A major factor that helped the BJP was not directly related to Delhi. The new Union Budget for 2025 was released just days before the day of voting, with the new tax brackets removing income tax for people who earn less than 12 lakh rupees in a year. This massively boosted the party’s prospects within the middle class.
60.54% of eligible voters participated in voting on the 5th of February, albeit down on the previous elections held here. Exit polls predicted a victory for the BJP. The Election Commission of India announced the results on the 8th of February, declaring BJP as the winner by a landslide, ending the AAP’s stronghold in the capital. Major highlights included Parvesh Verma, son of former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma, defeating Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency.
After a few days of deliberation and meetings between the BJP top brass, Rekha Gupta, who was elected from the Shalimar Bagh constituency, was named as the next Chief Minister of Delhi on 19 February.
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