Delhi verdict: Saffron rise, Kejri fall

The BJP on Saturday scripted history in the national capital by reclaiming the Delhi throne after a gap of 27 years, decimating the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and effectively wiping out its entire top brass, including national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

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The Congress hit a hat-trick of ducks, failing to open its account for the third consecutive time even as most of its candidates lost deposits, in line with the 2015 and 2020 elections. The BJP ended on top of the charts bagging a comfortable majority in 48 of Delhi Assembly’s 70 seats while AAP lagged at 22.

Former Chief Minister Kejriwal lost to BJP’s giant slayer and former West Delhi MP Parvesh Sahib Verma by a margin of 4,089 votes. In a near-reversal of fortunes, Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit, the son of late Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit whom Kejriwal had first defeated in 2013 when he came into prominence, today played a role in the AAP national convener’s loss.

Dikshit polled 4,568 votes in the VVIP constituency, higher than Kejriwal’s defeat margin of 4,089 votes to Parvesh Verma.

CM Atishi and minister Gopal Rai were the sole top AAP survivors in the ruling party’s Saturday demolition at the hands of the BJP, which bagged votes across segments —from rural to urban, SC to minority and women to slum dwellers.

PM Narendra Modi hailed the BJP’s Delhi win as comprehensive, saying “the lotus has bloomed across all segments”. He said Delhi had finally been rid of ‘AAP-da’ (disaster) .

“The voters across India are choosing ‘santushtikaran’ (satisfaction) over ‘tushtikaran’ (appeasement) and have shown that governance is not a stage for theatrics, propaganda and malice,” Modi said, addressing BJP workers at the party headquarters. The PM especially thanked the Poorvanchalis, a community AAP had flagged was “insulted by BJP leaders” during poll campaigns.

The development signalled a meteoric fall for AAP after its rise way back in 2013 when the party took birth from the womb of India Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare.

In 2013, Kejriwal took oath as Delhi CM with the Congress’ outside support. While he resigned after 49 days, he won a landslide in the two subsequent elections—67 out of 70 seats in 2015 and 62 in 2020. AAP’s rise as a party was also phenomenal under Kejriwal. Established on November 26, 2012, AAP became the youngest ever national party in India’s history attaining the tag in April 2023. Saturday, however, spelt a massive electoral rout for the party, though it retained nearly 43.57 per cent of the votes.

All three AAP leaders facing corruption charges in the Delhi excise scam faced defeats—Kejriwal; former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in Jangpura and former Health Minister Satyendar Jain in Shakur Basti. Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj also lost from Greater Kailash as did ex-minister Somnath Bharti in Malviya Nagar, a seat the BJP won after 32 years.

So much so, AAP’s Jitender Singh Shunty, believed to be invincible for the scale of community service he rendered during Covid-19, also lost to a BJP candidate in Shahdara. The saffron vote share surged 7.06 per cent from 38.5 per cent in 2020 to 45.56 per cent today.

AAP’s vote share fell 10.03 per cent from 53.6 per cent in 2020 to 43.57 per cent. The Congress, which scored a duck, managed to dent AAP to a great extent, making a marginal gain of 2.04 per cent in its vote share from 4.3 per cent in the last election to 6.34 per cent today.

In several key seats where AAP candidates lost marginally, Congress candidates pulled away votes. These include Sangam Vihar where BJP won by 344 votes and Congress polled 15,863 votes; Rajinder Nagar where AAP’s Durgesh Pathak lost to BJP by 1,231 votes and Congress candidate got 4,015 votes; Trilokpuri which BJP won by just 392 votes and the Congress polled 6,147 votes; Badli where Congress state chief Devender Yadav polled 41,071 votes and AAP lost to BJP by 15,163 votes; Malviya Nagar where ex-AAP minister Somnath Bharti lost by 2,131 votes and the Congress polled 6,770 votes; Jangpura where Manish Sisodia was defeated by 675 votes and the Congress polled 7,350. Kejriwal conceded defeat saying he accepted the verdict of the people with humility.

The PM for his part, said, “Jana shakti is paramount! Development wins, good governance triumphs. I bow to my dear sisters and brothers of Delhi for this resounding and historic mandate to @BJP4India. It is our guarantee that we will leave no stone unturned in developing Delhi, improving the overall quality of life for the people and ensuring that Delhi has a prime role to play in building a Viksit Bharat.”