Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party won the most seats in the high-stakes state legislature election in the country’s federal territory, including New Delhi, for the first time in over a quarter-century, according to official data Saturday.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party won 47 seats in the 70-member assembly that includes India’s capital of 20 million people, ousting the Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP, that ruled New Delhi since 2015. The AAP won 22 seats. The outcome of the race in one remaining seat had yet to be declared, according to the Election Commission of India.
India’s main opposition Congress party lost on all seats for the third consecutive term.
In a major upset, the AAP founder and leader Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy, Manish Sisodia, lost their seats despite their party having built widespread support with its welfare policies and anticorruption movement.
“We accept the mandate of the people with great humility,” Kejriwal said in a video statement while congratulating the BJP on its victory. He said he hoped that the BJP would fulfil its election promises.
“We have done a lot of work in the field of health, education and infrastructure in the last 10 years,” Kejriwal said. “We will not only play the role of a constructive opposition but will also remain among the people and continue to serve them.”
Waving party flags and posters of Modi, supporters of the BJP chanted slogans and danced outside its headquarters in the capital as vote results began trickling with most exit polls predicting the party’s win.
Pledges on schools and health services
The BJP’s Amit Shah, who is India’s powerful home minister, said his party’s victory signified that “people can’t be misled with lies every time.” He said under the leadership of Modi, the BJP would make New Delhi “the world’s No. 1 capital by fulfilling all promises.”
“Our victory is a sign of the people’s faith in Prime Minister Modi’s vision of progress,” he said in a statement.
Saturday’s victory is seen as a big boost for the BJP after it failed to secure a majority on its own in last year’s national election but formed the government with coalition partners. It gained some lost ground by winning two state elections in northern Haryana and western Maharashtra states last year.
Ahead of the election, Modi’s party slashed income taxes on the salaried middle class, one of its key voting blocs, in the federal budget.
During the electioneering, Modi and Kejriwal offered to revamp government schools and provide free health services and electricity, along with a monthly stipend of over 2,000 rupees ($25) to poor women.
Federal investigations
Kejriwal was arrested last year along with two key party leaders on charges of receiving bribes from a liquor distributor. They have denied the accusations, saying they are part of a political conspiracy.
The Supreme Court allowed the release of Kejriwal and other ministers on bail. Kejriwal later relinquished the chief minister’s post to his most senior party leader, Atishi, who won her seat Saturday.
Opposition parties widely condemned Kejriwal’s arrest, accusing Modi’s government of misusing federal investigation agencies to harass and weaken political opponents. They pointed to several raids, arrests and corruption investigations of key opposition figures before the national election.
Kejriwal formed the AAP in 2012 after tapping into public anger over corruption scandals. His pro-poor policies have focused on fixing state-run schools and providing cheap electricity, free health care and bus transport for women.
In 2020, the AAP won 62 out of 70 seats in a landslide victory in the last state legislature election, leaving the BJP with eight 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.
