Opinion | Delhi Gets 'Modi-fied': The Juggernaut Rolls Through

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Last Updated:February 12, 2025, 14:21 IST

Delhi election results proved two things: the electorate should never be taken for granted, and the Modi juggernaut has only grown stronger, powered by the PM's unwavering commitment to good governance and accountability

Prime Minister Narendra Modi being garlanded by BJP MPs Manoj Tiwari, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and Bansuri Swaraj during celebrations at the BJP HQ after the party won the Delhi Assembly election. (Image: PTI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won Delhi after a long wait of 27 years, resoundingly defeating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by a comfortable margin. The last time the BJP was in power was from 1993 to 1998. “Our double-engine government will now deliver development to Delhi at double speed," Prime Minister Modi remarked while addressing a gathering at the BJP headquarters soon after the party’s spectacular victory.

The AAP saw its vote share drop by nearly 10 percentage points, from 53.57 per cent in 2020 to 43.55 per cent in 2025. This decline translated into a major loss of seats — from 62 in 2020 to just 22 in 2025. Meanwhile, the BJP witnessed a 7.3 per cent increase, rising from 38.51 per cent in 2020 to 45.76 per cent in 2025. It achieved this by gaining support from diverse voter groups, including Purvanchalis, Sikhs, Jats, and slum residents. The BJP’s victory was marked by winning 48 out of 70 seats.

The party excelled in areas with significant Purvanchali populations, such as Laxmi Nagar, Sangam Vihar, and Karawal Nagar, winning 25 out of 35 seats. In regions like Najafgarh, Narela, and Bijwasan, which have a notable Haryanvi presence, the BJP secured 12 out of 13 seats. Additionally, it claimed four out of seven seats dominated by slum dwellers. In constituencies along the Haryana border, the BJP again demonstrated strong performance, winning nine out of 11 seats.

The BJP’s success also extended to constituencies with more than 10 per cent Sikh voters, where it won three out of four seats. In areas like Hari Nagar and Janakpuri, where Punjabi voters exceed 10 per cent, the party captured 23 out of 28 seats. The BJP also performed well among Gujjar voters, winning two out of five seats.

Effectively speaking, Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s clarion call of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas" reigned supreme. In reserved constituencies, the BJP managed to win four out of 12 seats. It also succeeded in areas with over 10 per cent of Jat voters, securing 11 out of 13 seats. Among Valmiki voters, it won four out of nine seats, while among Jatav voters, it secured six out of 12. The BJP fielded six Purvanchali candidates and saw four emerge victorious. Among Haryanvi candidates, 12 out of 14 BJP candidates won at the hustings. In total, the party claimed victory in 16 out of 22 border constituencies shared with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh—seven along the UP border and a solid nine along the Haryana border.

There are 12 Scheduled Caste seats in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, namely Ambedkar Nagar, Bawana, Deoli, Gokalpur, Karol Bagh, Kondli, Madipur, Mangolpuri, Patel Nagar, Seemapuri, Sultanpur Majra, and Trilokpuri. The AAP won all 12 in 2015 and 2020. This time, it lost Mangolpuri, which was won by the BJP for the first time ever. Additionally, AAP’s victory margins fell dramatically in Ambedkar Nagar and Sultanpur Majra. In Ambedkar Nagar, its margin declined from 43.58 per cent in 2015 to 28.05 per cent in 2020, and further to just 4.37 per cent in 2025. In Sultanpur Majra, the margin dropped from 55.79 per cent in 2015 to 42.86 per cent in 2020, and further to 15.21 per cent in 2025.

Speaking of Muslim-dominated seats, there are seven of them, namely Babarpur, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Matia Mahal, Mustafabad, Okhla, and Seelampur. The AAP won all of these in the 2020 elections. However, in 2025, it lost the Mustafabad seat to the BJP, which secured victory by 17,578 votes, with an 8.76 per cent margin. Additionally, the AAP’s victory margins dropped significantly in Babarpur, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, and Matia Mahal.

Clearly, this election outcome highlighted the BJP’s ability to connect with a broad spectrum of voters across Delhi’s diverse constituencies. The party’s strategic focus on key demographics played a crucial role in its electoral success. But undoubtedly, the biggest catalyst was the “Modi factor".

Despite retaining its stronghold in Dalit and Muslim-dominated constituencies, the AAP, on the contrary, lost ground in several key regions. It won eight out of 12 Scheduled Caste-reserved seats and six out of seven Muslim-majority constituencies, but this was not enough to counterbalance its overall decline—thanks to Kejriwal’s incompetence and over a decade of corruption, leaving Delhiites gasping for even the most basic necessities of life.

Coming back to the BJP, it made unexpected inroads among Muslim voters, securing a notable 12-13 per cent of the community’s votes, compared to just 3 per cent in 2020. The AAP’s victories were largely concentrated in Central, Northeast, and South Delhi. However, it faced a near wipeout in West and North Delhi, where the BJP dominated.

The 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, in effect, marked a major shift in voter preference, with the AAP suffering a substantial decline in both vote share and seat count. Voters who had previously supported the BJP in Lok Sabha elections but not in Assembly polls changed their stance this time, trusting PM Modi’s leadership and his guarantees of continued welfare schemes.

The “Kejriwal model" proved to be a sham, a hoax, with Delhi voters effectively writing the political obituary of Arvind Kejriwal—and rightfully so. On the other hand, the enduring “Modi model", which has repeatedly delivered on promises in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Maharashtra, and elsewhere, proved to be the biggest rallying factor that worked to the BJP’s advantage.

PM Modi’s governance model evokes faith and trust and stands for empathy, welfarism, honesty, competence, ethics, and inclusivity. This time, Delhi voters decided to put their stamp of approval on the “Modi model" that delivers what it promises. They chose to abandon the duplicitous Kejriwal, who had led them down the garden path in one Assembly election after another.

Yashwant Deshmukh of C-Voter, in a recently penned column, wrote: “And finally, a successful strategy also means that the top brass of the army has a secret and killer weapon to deploy during the peak of the battle. The handpicked general of Narendra Modi for this final assault was Nirmala Sitharaman."

Deshmukh’s reference pertains to the massive income tax exemption and rebate announced by FM Sitharaman in this year’s Union Budget, specifically exempting all citizens earning up to Rs 12 lakh per annum from paying any income tax. Notably, 67 per cent of Delhi’s households are classified as middle class. The recent announcement of the 8th Pay Commission and the Union Budget’s major income tax relief—making incomes up to Rs 12.75 lakh per annum tax-exempt for the salaried middle class (annual salary of Rs 12 lakh plus a standard deduction of Rs 75,000)—proved to be a game-changer.

Clearly, Prime Minister Modi deserves unabashed credit for ensuring a Budget that bore the Modi stamp through and through. Modinomics proved to be the “Brahmastra" that hit the bull’s eye in the Delhi Assembly polls.

Additionally, the BJP unleashed its full election machinery in Delhi, putting AAP on the defensive with the Sheesh Mahal case, the liquor/excise policy scam, and governance failures. After joining forces against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, AAP and Congress quickly parted ways for the Haryana Assembly polls and then contested separately in Delhi as well.

Voters saw through the shenanigans of the flaky INDI alliance, which was riddled with conflicting goals, lacked a common minimum programme, and fell apart soon after the Lok Sabha elections.

AAP had long secured votes through a series of lofty promises. However, it failed to deliver even the basics—clean air, clean water, or a garbage-free Delhi. As a result, Kejriwal’s promises stopped resonating with the public. This time, informed voters had wised up and could see through his charades. Kejriwal’s mask had been stripped off.

Interestingly, the BJP did not announce its chief ministerial candidate in Delhi, instead seeking votes under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a manner of speaking, Modi was on every ticket. Kejriwal repeatedly taunted the BJP over the uncertainty surrounding its CM choice, but this strategy backfired on the AAP.

PM Modi, the country’s tallest and most popular leader, banked on his vision to fast-track Delhi’s development to secure a win for the party—and his strategy worked brilliantly. There can be no Viksit Bharat without a Viksit Delhi, the national capital, and the Delhi Assembly election results endorsed this.

Reuters described the outcome as a “landmark win" for Prime Minister Modi, highlighting how the BJP’s campaign focused on governance, law and order, and infrastructure. The victory underscores the BJP’s growing appeal in urban centres, particularly among middle-class voters who once supported AAP in Delhi but were repeatedly let down by Kejriwal and his politics of graft and inefficiency.

Meanwhile, the Congress failed to win even a single seat in the 2025 Delhi Assembly polls—just as in 2015 and 2020, when it had scored a zero. The reward for consistently scoring a duck must, therefore, go to Rahul Gandhi and his politics of obfuscation.