Will Delhi Assembly Elections 2025 reshape Indian politics?
How will it impact national politics?
Will the Delhi Elections further weaken Congress?
Will the grand opposition alliance of INDIA begin to crumble under its own weight and its inner contradiction come to the surface like never before?
Analysts believe the result of the Delhi Elections will spill over the national capital and have far-reaching consequences on national politics.
How Will Delhi Elections Impact National Politics?
It is most likely to weaken Congress, further strengthen the BJP at the national level and help Prime Minister Narendra Modi regain his hold with his brand value soaring.
A cursory review of Delhi Election result shows that Congress played an important role in edging the Aam Aadmi Party out of power, though it failed to win a single seat in the 70-member assembly.
How Did Congress Damage AAP?
The AAP lost to the BJP candidates in as many as 14 constituencies due to the grand old party.
The AAP stalwarts like former CM Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Durgesh Pathak, and Satyender Jain bit the dust due to the Congress candidates.
Their margins of defeat were less than the votes polled by the Congress candidates.
In as many as 19 seats, the votes polled by the AAP and Congress put together were less than the votes garnered by the saffron party.
The issue will certainly be raised in the next meeting of the INDIA bloc.
War Within INDIA To Escalate?
The Arvind Kejriwal-led party is most likely to hold the grand old party responsible for its defeat and accuse it of helping the saffron party.
It may also get the support of TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Shiv Sena UBT.
Analysts believe the Congress-AAP rift was inevitable and the writing on the wall was already read by many people who thought it was just a matter of when and not if.
The AAP sailed on the crest of the India Against Corruption movement, led by Anna Hazare. It got eight seats in the Delhi assembly elections held in 2013 and decided to back the AAP won 28 seats to keep the BJP with 32 seats out of power.
Though the grand old party received a drubbing at the hustings, it garnered 24.6% of votes polled.
However, it backed the AAP, leaving its supporters, grassroots workers and local leaders demoralised in such a way that a bigger chunk of its votes shifted to the ruling party.
Consequently, the grand old party received less than 10% of votes in elections held in 2015 and less than 5% in 2020.
As the vote share of the BJP remained almost intact, wavering between 32% and 38% of votes polled, it is clear that the AAP flourished at the cost of Congress.
Not only this, the AAP snatched power from the BJP in Punjab and damaged its chances of winning many seats in the Goa and Gujarat assembly elections.
How Did Congress, AAP Part Ways?
Notwithstanding this, Rahul Gandhi wanted the Congress to ally with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party to stop the BJP and keep the unity of the INDIA bloc intact.
However, the AAP- convenor announced that the party would go alone to the polls while the talks between the two parties were going on. The party also announced the names of all the candidates.
It changed the entire scenario, Congress accepted the challenge to fight alone, and it targeted Arvind Kejriwal, who hit back.
With one more state going to the BJP, the saffron party may adopt a more aggressive approach, and attack the opposition more virulently than before.
After the BJP failed to get the majority on its own in the Lok Sabha Elections 2025, brand Modi suffered, and it became clear that he too is vulnerable. It became clear for the first time that the saffron party too would be defeated if other parties joined hands. The saffron party and PM Modi will get a fillip now.
However, with this result, the internecine fighting in the INDIA bloc is most likely to escalate with more parties attacking the grand old party and its leader.
How Will Delhi Elections Impact INDIA Bloc?
The Delhi Elections will have its shadow cast on elections to be held in Bihar this year and West Bengal in April 2026. As Congress has made its intention to regain its grounds lost to the regional parties clear, West Bengal’s ruling party the TMC may be peeved. It may get ready to deny Congress any leeway in the forthcoming assembly elections and challenge the leadership of Rahul Gandhi.
The days ahead are difficult for the INDIA bloc as well as Congress.
