The Delhi Assembly election results mark a significant political shift, with the BJP securing a decisive victory, ending the decade-long dominance of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi. For the BJP it was a crucial morale booster and a hat-trick after Haryana and Maharashtra. Interestingly, the BJP beat AAP at its own game by offering freebies to women and other key groups of voters. Factors such as supply of drinking water, clearing of garbage, cleaning of the Yamuna, deteriorating infrastructure, traffic congestion and air pollution did the AAP in. Most importantly, corruption charges and jail terms damaged the image and credibility of its leaders. Unfortunately, the Congress which ruled Delhi for 15 years between 1998 and 2013 drew a blank for the third time in a row. The dismal show by Rahul Gandhi as a lead campaigner is bound to further raise question marks on his ability to deliver at the hustings, with the BJP likely to sharpen its attack on Congress as a dynastic party focused on one family. It appears the Congress was not in favour of helping the AAP and thought that it was in its own interest to damage and downsize that party. The impact of that policy on an Opposition alliance will be known later.
