Modi’s BJP wins big in high-stakes contest

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party will form the government in Indian capital Delhi after 27 years as it scripted an impressive election victory.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won or is leading in 48 seats in the 70-member legislative assembly, while the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is ahead in 22 seats, according to data from the Election Commission of India (EC).

A party that wins more than the halfway mark of 35 seats can form the government.

“Development wins, good governance triumphs,” Modi wrote on X, adding that his party would leave “no stone unturned” in developing Delhi .

The election was a battle of prestige for both the BJP and AAP, given Delhi’s symbolic importance as the country’s capital.

The city, a federally-administered territory, was governed by the AAP since 2013, with voters backing its strong record of welfarism. But the party and its leaders have faced several challenges recently, with leaders embroiled in corruption allegations which they have denied.

For the BJP, securing Delhi represents more than just electoral success – it marks a crucial foothold in the nation’s capital after being out of power there since 1998.

The party, which has had recent election successes in other states, such as Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, threw resources at the Delhi campaign, with Modi as well as Home Minister Amit Shah attending events.

Congress, the main opposition party at the national level, was also in the race, but did not win even one seat.

The party governed Delhi from 1998 to 2013, but was ousted over allegations of corruption that saw voters turn to AAP instead. It has failed to make a mark since.

Experts say that the win in politically crucial Delhi will reinforce Modi’s popularity among Indian voters after his party lost its outright majority in last year’s general election.

The defeat is a big blow to the AAP, a much smaller party which was praised in its early years in power for focusing on improving education and health facilities in the city. It also governs Punjab state, but retaining Delhi would have been a triumph for the beleaguered party which now faces questions about its future.

On Saturday, the biggest upsets for AAP included top leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia losing in the New Delhi and Jangpura constituencies, respectively.

Incumbent Chief Minister Atishi managed only a narrow victory from the Kalkaji constituency.

In a video message on X, Kejriwal said he and his party “humbly accepted” the verdict of the people and congratulated the BJP on its win.

“I hope they live up to the expectations of the people who voted for them,” he said.

More than 60% of eligible voters cast their ballot in the election on Wednesday. Most exit polls had predicted an absolute majority for the BJP, although such predictions have gone wrong in the past.

Much of the BJP campaign targeted Kejriwal, an anti-graft activist, who – along with Sisodia – had been jailed over the past two years in a corruption case relating to a now-scrapped alcohol sales policy. Both leaders, who deny all the charges, separately got bail last year after spending months in jail.

Kejriwal has accused Modi’s party of carrying out a “political vendetta” against him and the AAP, which the BJP denies.

The Supreme Court’s bail conditions banned him from entering the chief minister’s office or signing files. Kejriwal resigned from the role days after his release from prison.

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Soutik Biswas, India correspondent

Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP is losing Delhi due to anti-incumbency, governance fatigue and the BJP’s relentless onslaught.

After more than a decade in power, AAP’s appeal has waned, especially among the middle class which was once drawn to Kejriwal’s anti-corruption stance. Kejriwal, once a champion of the middle-class-led anti-corruption movement, had pivoted to becoming the party of the poor – it is not yet clear when the poor and Delhi’s struggling working class abandoned him.

Corruption allegations, the jailing of key leaders, and Kejriwal’s own arrest damaged AAP’s campaign, creating a vacuum the BJP swiftly filled. Backed by vast resources and a powerful electoral machine, the BJP’s “double-engine” pitch – where state and federal governments are ruled by the same party – promised stability and better governance.

This is a historic victory – BJP’s first Delhi majority in almost 30 years. Its “Parivartan” (change) message struck a chord, but its political and financial muscle sealed the landslide win.

Fresh off wins in the states of Haryana and Maharashtra, this cements BJP’s resurgence after last year’s general election setback. With Delhi slipping away, the fragmented opposition is in disarray, while the BJP enters the next electoral cycle with a clear upper hand.

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Delhi has a unique governance structure. Key decisions related to public order, police and land are taken by the lieutenant governor (LG) who is appointed by the federal government. The state legislature handles matters including education, health and public services.

This division has often caused friction between the federal government and state legislature when they are run by rival parties.

The power structure was also a reason why the election campaigning in Delhi was more focused on welfare than on political or identity issues, which play a larger role in elections elsewhere in the country.

The AAP and BJP campaigns both promised improvements to public schools and free healthcare services as well as cash handouts to women.

Meanwhile, the BJP also hoped for a boost from last week’s federal budget, which slashed income tax for the salaried middle class, a key voting bloc in the capital.

The bitter, weeks-long campaign to win the capital focused strongly on welfare facilities for its residents. One topic, however, remained off the agenda – Delhi’s perennial air pollution crisis that affects the city of more than 30 million for much of the year.

The BJP had promised to reduce the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) by half by 2030 if it won, and other parties also made references to the crisis in their manifestos. But the issue didn’t dominate discussions or become a talking point in the election campaign.

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