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By Deepak Joshi Pokhrel

On February 5, 2025, the voting for the Delhi legislative election was held with voters’ turnout just over 60%. The high-stakes state legislature election was very crucial for BJP given its poor performance in the national election held last year. In the last legislative election held in 2020, the Aam Aadmi Party (literal translation, Common Man’s Party) won 62 seats out of 70 seats in a landslide victory, leaving the BJP with 8 seats and the Congress Party with none. The BJP was voted out of power in Delhi in 1998 by the Congress party, which ran the government for 15 years. Aam Aadmi Party has ruled Delhi since 2015. However, the result of the election has ended the rule of the Aam Aadmi Party, laying the ground for the BJP to finally take Delhi, which is often considered a mini-India by political analysts.

Aam Aadmi Party was formed by Arvind Kejriwal—a once taciturn civil servant—on October 2, 2012, coinciding with the birth anniversary of non-violence campaigner Mahatma Gandhi. The party was formed tapping over the public anger over poor governance and corruption scandals. His pro-poor policies focused on fixing state-run schools, electricity, free health care, and free transport for women. With the symbol of a broom, the party vowed to sweep away the corruption and establish a just and democratic society. While people were fed up with growing corruption and poor governance, the Aam Aadmi weaved a story saying Congress and BJP had only deceived the people with their hollow promises and airy talks and institutionalised corruption. Surprisingly, the story sold successfully. Aam Aadmi Party won 28 of the 70 seats, surprising everyone, including the then-ruling government, Congress, in the Delhi legislature election held in 2013, a year after its formation. The election marked a watershed in Delhi politics, buried the Congress, and heralded the era of AAP and Kejriwal.

During its initial years in power, the AAP was winning the hearts of people for its many praiseworthy initiatives. For instance, the health budget was doubled, and the education budget was increased drastically. Likewise, the AAP also made significant improvements in the areas of electricity and drinking water facilities. A huge amount was invested in infrastructure, which was lauded even by his political opponents.

However, as the old adage goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely; the AAP party seemed to be swayed by the power. The founder of the party and Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, was arrested on charges of receiving bribes from a liquor distributor. The arrest surprised everyone, including Anna Hajare, an anti-corruption campaigner, who even said that it was the right decision not to join AAP. Though he denied the accusation, the people of Delhi were not in the mood to retain him as a chief minister for yet another time.

After his arrest, Kejriwal said that he was framed by the BJP-led government, accusing Modi of misusing federal investigating agencies to harass and weaken political opponents. He pointed to several raids, arrests, and investigations of key opposition figures just before the national election last year.

There was a great disenchantment among people who were pinning high hopes on Arvind Kejriwal to see a corruption-free Delhi. They hoped that AAP would fulfil its promise made during the electioneering when voted to power. They also expected that corruption would become a thing of the past in Delhi. Contrary to their expectation, corruption continues to thrive. The poor performance of the government in tackling the high-voltage scam gave the impression that the AAP was no different than its predecessor, Congress. This saddened the people who were pinning high hopes on AAP to improve governance and service delivery. In plain words, the AAP under his leadership dashed the hopes and aspirations of the people who were now committed to ousting the AAP for breaching their trust.

While people were seeking an alternative to AAP, the BJP emerged as a party to meet their aspirations. To say, the BJP cashes in on the weakness of AAP to catapult to power in Delhi. BJP was very mindful of the fact that people in Delhi were deceived by AAP with its hollow talks. It was also aware that the Delhi legislature election is an ample opportunity to revamp its lustre as a result of poor performance in last year’s national election.

As stipulated by the political pundits, the BJP won 47 seats in the 70-member assembly in the Indian capital of 20 million for the first time in 27 years. In the post-victory press conference, Amit Shah, India’s home minister, said that people cannot be misled with lies every time. He was hinting at Kejriwal’s failure to walk the talk, angering people.

The Delhi legislature election result has sent the clear message that the public only votes for those who deliver by action rather than words. It is also validated that voters cannot be fooled by hollow talks and airy promises. With increasing political awareness among people throughout the world, people are less likely to elect candidates with tainted images and ideological inclinations. Any party that touches the lives of the people will be their preferred choice. The election result has also proved that honesty, commitment, and passion in understanding and addressing the needs and aspirations of the people will eventually pay off, though the path might be topsy-turvy in the beginning.

With the election result, one thing is very clear. The people cannot be fooled all the time with lies. They know what is right and wrong for them.

But the journey ahead for the BJP will be fraught with many challenges in Delhi. People have voted BJP to power with the hope that their aspirations will be duly taken into consideration and subsequently addressed. If BJP fails to do so, it will lay the foundation for Congress or AAP to make a comeback.