February 8, 2025: In a dramatic political shift, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has stormed back to power in Delhi after a 27-year wait, decisively unseating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The saffron party secured a commanding lead in 48 of the 70 assembly seats, marking a stunning turnaround from its dismal performance in the 2020 elections, where it had been reduced to single digits.
The election results have dealt a severe blow to AAP, which had ruled the capital for the past decade with overwhelming majorities in the last two elections. This time, however, the party trailed with just 22 seats, struggling to hold onto its core support base. The Congress, once a formidable force in Delhi politics, failed to make any impact, with early trends suggesting it would once again draw a blank.
The BJP’s resurgence has also brought with it major upsets, toppling some of AAP’s most prominent leaders. Arvind Kejriwal, the party’s national convenor and Delhi’s longest-serving chief minister, lost his New Delhi seat to BJP’s Parvesh Verma by a margin of 3,000 votes. Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, contesting from Jangpura, suffered a similar fate at the hands of BJP’s Tarvinder Singh Marwah. In Kalkaji, acting Chief Minister Atishi managed to claw back a narrow lead over BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri, while in Greater Kailash, Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, who initially led, eventually fell behind his BJP rival.
The elections, held on February 5, saw a voter turnout of 60.54 percent, a slight dip compared to 2020. Mustafabad recorded the highest participation at 69.01 percent, while Mehrauli saw the lowest at 53.02 percent. The polling process was not without controversy, as Arvind Kejriwal raised concerns over a delay in the release of voter turnout data, hinting at a lack of transparency. In response, the Delhi Chief Election Officer’s office published the figures on the ECI Voter Turnout App, while AAP launched its own website to provide real-time data.
Even before the results were announced, exit polls had predicted a BJP victory, a scenario that seemed unthinkable just five years ago. On average, five exit polls had given the BJP 39 seats, comfortably past the majority mark of 36, while AAP was projected to secure 30 seats—a significant decline from its landslide victory in 2020. The Congress, which has been in decline for over a decade, was expected to win only one or two seats. Some pollsters, however, had suggested a closer fight, with agencies like Mind Brink and WeePreside predicting an AAP victory, while Matrize forecast a hung assembly with the BJP on the cusp of a majority.
Despite its welfare-driven campaign, AAP struggled against growing anti-incumbency and corruption allegations, which the BJP exploited to its advantage. The saffron party’s relentless focus on AAP’s governance failures and graft charges resonated with voters, leading to this historic shift in Delhi’s political landscape. With the results now cementing the BJP’s dominance in the capital, Delhi is poised for a new chapter under a leadership that has long sought to reclaim its hold over the city.