Opinion | Why Did Winning Delhi Matter So Much For PM Modi And BJP?

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Last Updated:February 09, 2025, 12:50 IST

Delhi provides the perfect topping for its performances in Haryana and Maharashtra and gives it great momentum for Bihar later this year

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets BJP workers at headquarters amid celebrations. (Courtesy: PTI)

Everyone involved in the BJP’s Delhi campaign has the same story: the party threw in everything it had to win this election.

The BJP fights almost every election with great seriousness and intent. But even by those standards, the focus on winning Delhi was exceptional.

First, PM Modi wants to transform the national Capital into a grand showcase to the world. This was not possible with Arvind Kejriwal’s obstructionary politics as long as AAP was in power. To leave a lasting legacy in Delhi, the PM needs the BJP to be in power in Delhi at least for a couple of terms.

And he intends to start the city’s overhaul with its muddied, sullied river, Yamuna, which occupies an important place in Bharat’s spiritual landscape. In his victory speech on Saturday, he made a promise to make Yamuna the centrepiece of the Capital’s identity.

“The Delhi mandate is not just for development but also for the conservation of our cultural and spiritual legacy. But look what these people [AAP] have done to the river. Delhi has come up in the lap of Ma Yamuna. The sight of the polluted river has pained Delhiites. AAP has insulted it," said Modi. “During this election campaign, I have taken an oath that I will make Yamuna the centre of Delhi’s identity. I know this work is extremely difficult. I know it will take years. But however long it takes, whatever hardship comes, we will succeed with Yamuna-ji’s blessings."

Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, “Delhi’s mandate is not just for development but also for the prosperity of its heritage. ‘Gange cha Yamune chaiva, Godavari Saraswati, Kaveri Narmade Sindhu,’ This is the cultural and spiritual proclamation of India. Mother Yamuna is the… pic.twitter.com/XKks7aHzpo— IANS (@ians_india) February 8, 2025

The Standing Committee on Water Resources, chaired by Parbatbhai Savabhai Patel, submitted its report on ‘Review of Upper Yamuna River Cleaning Projects up to Delhi and Riverbed Management in Delhi’ on February 6, 2024. It talked about 28 industrial clusters in Delhi which discharge their waste water into the Yamuna and its tributaries. Of these, only 17 clusters are connected with Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs), and the capacity utilisation of these CETPs is only 32 per cent.

The BJP accuses the outgoing AAP government of doing nothing for Yamuna after spending nearly Rs 7,000 crore and despite a central allocation of Rs 8,500 crore.

A city with a clean, winding Yamuna with bistros and cultural and financial hubs along its banks would be transformative. Coupled with clean streets free of encroachment — something AAP has been accused of snatching away to appease its votebank — will change the way Delhi looks and feels.

Second, another win in Delhi would have made Arvind Kejriwal the second biggest challenger to the BJP in at least north India. It would have opened up his chances beyond Punjab, where AAP is in power. By destroying the AAP in Delhi, the BJP can push it into an existential crisis instead of seeing it become a headache in states like Gujarat, Haryana, and Uttarakhand.

And third, the BJP victory in Delhi, which gave two sweeping verdicts for AAP and created a perception that it was unwinnable for the saffron side, sends a message to the ‘impossible states’ like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Punjab. It tells the ruling parties there that the emergence and dominance of the BJP is possible anywhere. Three of those four states go to polls in 2026.