THE BIG BATTLE FOR THE CAPITAL WHO HAS THE EDGE?

With two days to go before Delhi votes, the high-pitch, divisive election campaigning is about to come to an end. Our reporters, Anup Verma, Ifrah Mufti, Ashish Srivastav, Prabhat Shukla and Shekhar Singh, covering this election from start to finish, share their reflections on the key aspects of the election in the national capital

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AAP is eyeing a fourth consecutive term. The BJP, "the wounded tiger", is hoping to roar back to power after a 27-year hiatus.

Meanwhile, Congress has finally awakened to the fact that it once governed Delhi for 15 years and is pulling out all stops to regain the past glory.

These parties, including the BJP, which earlier had been averse to freebies, targeted voters with various social welfare schemes. However, during campaigning, they deployed strategies on the ground that were curated as per their strengths and weaknesses.

AAP: Banking on new faces

For the past decade, AAP has shaped Delhi's governance narrative around education, healthcare, and subsidised utilities. However, as the party entered the 2025 battle, it found itself grappling with the weight of anti-incumbency and allegations of corruption that threaten to erode its appeal.

Determined to counter voter fatigue, AAP took a bold step-denying tickets to several sitting MLAs and introduced fresh candidates. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, in his speeches, framed the election as a battle between "those working for Delhi and those trying to destroy it." The party doubled down on its traditional voter base-working-class families in slums and unauthorised colonies. Through localised town halls, door-to-door campaigns, and its vast volunteer network, AAP emphasised on the transformation of government schools, the success of mohalla clinics, and the continuation of its welfare schemes, along with promises of new initiatives.

However, the biggest challenge for AAP was navigating the corruption allegations against its leadership. While Kejriwal tried to deflect the attacks by portraying them as politically motivated, the Opposition ensured that these charges remained at the forefront of the electoral discourse.

For BJP, it was referendum on AAP