The Bitter Battle to Gain Power in Delhi

The outcome will have national implications. Hence, the big push on the ground by three national parties

- Shashi Shekhar

How do you view the Delhi assembly elections due in February 2025? Is it a struggle to secure the residual powers as Delhi is now a Centre-administered state? If that is so, then why so much hoopla? The answer is clear. Our politics is not a geometric design created out of clear, straight, or concentric lines. It's a complex maze resembling the dense forests of Abhujhmad in Chhattisgarh. Delhi assembly elections are unique as they have become a prestige match for three national parties.

Let's begin with the ruling Aam Admi Party (AAP). Arvind Kejriwal is in the fray and determined to secure a fourth term. A lot of water has flown in the Yamuna since he first assumed office in Delhi 12 years ago. The AAP won the title of a national political party in the 2022 Gujarat assembly elections by securing 12.9% of the total votes polled. In Punjab, their government has a clear mandate. If we set aside the oldest party in the country, the Congress—the AAP is the only Opposition party that has formed governments in two states.

This fact enthuses those who want non-Congress or non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments. However, disturbing realities haunt the AAP too. Most of its founding fathers are no longer with the party. The party that came to power professing an anti-corruption agenda is tormented by the fact that some of its top leaders have faced months of jail terms on corruption charges. This is the reason the AAP leaders went into a public relations overdrive the moment they were released from prison to influence public opinion, teetering on the brink due to a 12-year-long anti-incumbency and corruption charges, in their favour.