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The AAP will see churn. In the immediate term, there will be a reordering. Will Kejriwal still command the moral authority to reshape the organisational structure in a manner he deems fit?
This fall from grace could raise serious questions about the long-term political durability of brand Kejriwal. (PTI File Photo)
The Delhi election results, which bring the BJP back into a governance role in the nation’s capital after a nearly three-decade-long hiatus, will have major implications. Here are some key takeaways:
TAKEAWAY 1: Voter confidence in Modi’s ‘guarantee’ and his personal ability to deliver on promises remains astoundingly high. The fact that Kejriwal—who saw himself as a challenger to Narendra Modi at the national level—has lost puts into perspective the monumental nature of the PM’s third consecutive victory and the BJP’s dramatic recovery post-2024 Lok Sabha elections.
TAKEAWAY 2: In just seven months, India finds itself once again moving towards BJP-dominated unipolarity in electoral politics. The BJP’s ability to rout a regional, non-Congress Opposition party reaffirms that it is still a growing force. Doubts over its future trajectory, following a stumble in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, have now been firmly laid to rest.
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TAKEAWAY 3: Winning Delhi—the only Hindi heartland state that had eluded the BJP for three decades—signals that the party remains the dominant force in the Cow Belt. This victory renews the BJP’s confidence that its core constituency remains committed to its vision. The party can now refocus on expanding its appeal among voters who have not yet been responsive to it.
TAKEAWAY 4: The Delhi win will be seen by the BJP’s election strategists as an affirmation of their post-2024 tactical shift in electioneering, where they have designed localised campaigns centred around offering freebies to different sections of voters. This new decentralised campaign style also has the added advantage of empowering state leadership, broadening and deepening the party’s voter connect. Expect poll campaigns in Bihar and, next year, in Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry to be tailored along the lines of the tactics employed in Maharashtra, Haryana, and now Delhi.
TAKEAWAY 5: In Maharashtra, Haryana, and Delhi, the BJP is witnessing the return of Backward Classes despite a sustained attack by the INDIA bloc, which has accused it of betraying their interests. The fact that this campaign is not damaging the BJP puts the onus back on the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties to change tack. The INDIA bloc will probably have to go back to the drawing board to craft a new narrative.
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TAKEAWAY 6: Defeat has severely eroded Kejriwal’s halo of kattar imaandari (incorruptibility). This fall from grace could raise serious questions about the long-term political durability of brand Kejriwal. For a party founded on the back of an anti-corruption movement, being adjudged “guilty” in the people’s court will also have implications for AAP in other geographies. Kejriwal’s best hope is now a quick exoneration from the courts.
TAKEAWAY 7: The AAP will see churn. In the immediate term, there will be a reordering. Will Kejriwal still command the moral authority to reshape the organisational structure in a manner he deems fit? While there may not be an immediate bid to dislodge him, there could be an exodus from the party. Can the AAP founder redeem himself in the eyes of his party’s Delhi cadre to avert desertions borne out of a loss of confidence in his vision?
TAKEAWAY 8: AAP’s first challenge will be to insulate its Punjab unit, which runs the government there, from the existential crisis that will inevitably engulf its Delhi wing after this decimation. Will AAP’s Punjab unit turn restive? Will Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann still take orders from Kejriwal?
TAKEAWAY 9: The Congress party is not winning. It has almost certainly squandered the momentum it gained after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Questions must be asked about whether Rahul Gandhi has the right ideas to lead the party out of the political doldrums. The focus on a caste census and allegations of “voter and voting machine manipulation” is no longer working. Agitprop politics has taken the Congress this far, but no further.
TAKEAWAY 10: The INDIA bloc has seen another diminishing. Expect some of its members to reconsider their options. It is increasingly apparent that the Congress could find itself sloughed off from the grouping—it is only a matter of time.
Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
