Modi adds India’s capital Delhi to recent electoral victories
It was a resounding victory that showed the BJP recovering some support since an unexpectedly poor showing in last year’s national elections
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) routed the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party, whose leader, Arvind Kejriwal, lost his own seat. The promise of a wide range of freebies, together with allegations of corruption within the opposition party and the recent arrests of its leaders, helped the BJP to flip Delhi, which had overwhelmingly voted for Kejriwal in the past.
“It is our guarantee that we will leave no stone unturned in developing Delhi, improving the overall quality of life for the people,” Modi said in a post on X.
The victory in Delhi is the third major success for the BJP in four months after winning the states of Haryana and Maharashtra, a sign that Modi’s policies such as the record tax cuts doled out in last week’s budget have helped rebuild his party’s support. For Delhi, having the same political party at federal and city level could help smooth administrative tasks.
“One would expect more coordination between the centre and the state,” said Rahul Verma, a political analyst and fellow at the Centre for Policy Research. Though the government in Delhi is drawn from an elected assembly, its powers are restricted and shared with the federal government.
The BJP won 48 seats in the 70-seat legislature, a meteoric rise from the eight it won in 2020. It campaigned aggressively on the alleged corruption scandals that have dogged Kejriwal and his party for years.
