BACK TO THE FUTURE

Key questions will be answered in politics this year: What does the future of AAP look like? What's next in the caste cauldron of Bihar? Who is the next generation of BJP leadership?

- Dhrubo Jyoti

On the surface, 2025 seems like a relatively quiet year for politics.

After the bustle of the 2024 general elections and two blockbuster assembly polls (Maharashtra and Haryana), this year is scheduled to see only two significant electoral battles.

In Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will fight to buck anti-incumbency and convince citizens to give it a third consecutive full term. It has had a bruising five years, with virtually the entire front line leadership placed behind bars over corruption allegations, and with the government's flagship schemes stuttering amid a feud between the lieutenant governor (LG) and chief minister.

The AAP's primary opposition in Delhi is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Buoyed by its surprise victories in Maharashtra and Haryana, it will look to expand beyond its single-digit tally by exploiting simmering middle-class angst over crumbling infrastructure in parts of Delhi, and the anti-incumbency associated with 10 years of the AAP in power.

With just 70 seats in play, Delhi might seem like a local contest. But beyond the prestige of it being the national capital, the city is a microcosm of the broader currents shaping politics.

Delhi is also the birthplace of India's youngest major party. Born of the churn and chaos of the anti-corruption movement of 2010-11, the AAP has stamped its presence on the political landscape, storming into the Delhi assembly elections in 2013, before capturing power decisively in 2015. Since then, it has won polls in a landslide in Punjab and attempted to expand to other states, albeit with indifferent results.