Delhi Election Results 2025: BJP Defeats AAP, Wins 48 of 70 Assembly Seats

The BJP is set to stage a comeback in Delhi after more than 26 years, sweeping the Aam Aadmi Party away from the capital in another big win to extend its saffron footprint in the country. Citizens cast their votes in the Assembly election on February 5, and counting took place on February 8.

As per the Election Commission of India (ECI), the BJP is currently winning or leading in 48 seats, with the AAP in 22 seats. The Congress has failed to win a single seat in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, now for the third time in a row. Speaking about the mandate, outgoing Chief Minister and AAP leader Atishi called it a “setback” but vowed to continue the party’s struggle against the BJP.

The AAP leader also expressed gratitude to her supporters, saying, “I thank the people who trusted me. I also thank my team, which faced all challenges and took our message to the public. I have won my seat but this is not a time for celebration—this is the time to fight. The battle against BJP’s authoritarianism will continue.” The ECI has declared her the winner from the Kalkaji seat, where she was pitted against the BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri and Alka Lamba of the Congress.

Also Read | Arvind Kejriwal: People will vote for kaam ki rajneeti

Taking to X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote: “Development wins, good governance triumphs,” and added that his party would leave “no stone unturned” in developing Delhi. In the first State Assembly election of the year, the stakes were high for all contenders—the BJP, the AAP, and the Congress. The AAP has governed Delhi since 2013, with voters backing its strong record of welfare politics. But recent scandals and corruption charges involving its leaders, particularly party supremo Arvind Kejriwal, have dented the party’s image.

Speaking about the AAP’s electoral setback, the activist Anna Hazare (once a mentor to Arvind Kejriwal) said the party “drowned” due to the liquor policy and its focus on money. In a jibe at Kejriwal, he further said a candidate’s character should be clean and he should know the virtues of sacrifice.

AAP veteran and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia conceded defeat from Jangpura while Arvind Kejriwal lost the New Delhi seat. Other key figures from the AAP who lost their seats include Somnath Bharti (Malviya Nagar) and Saurabh Bhardwaj (Greater Kailash). The Congress, which had ruled for 15 years under Sheila Dikshit, came up nought in the largely bipolar contest.

The BJP’s win, which comes after the party’s success in Maharashtra (where it is part of the Mahayuti alliance) and Haryana in 2024, has helped it overcome some of the setbacks it faced during the 2024 general election. Furthermore, coming days after the Union Budget, which gave crucial tax concessions to the middle class, this election continues the BJP’s winning Lok Sabha streak in Delhi where it won all seven seats.

But the premise this time was different. Ground-level issues such as water, drainage, and garbage were pitted against volatile campaigns by both parties with voters grimly evaluating their quality of life in a hopelessly polluted city.

Using “AAP-da”, the Hindi term meaning disaster, to tag its rival, the BJP pushed ahead and made “sheesh mahal” an oft-recalled buzzword for the lavish Chief Minister’s residence following the renovations by Kejriwal and allegations of corruption in the excise policy case. It clearly hit home.

The people of Delhi have dismantled the “sheesh mahal” of lies, deceit, and corruption and made the city “AAP-da free”, said Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah.

The AAP, which saw its leaders Kejriwal and Sisodia jailed in the excise policy case, countered the BJP campaign with vigour to say Yamuna waters were poisoned and that it was just not being allowed to govern because every move was being stymied by the Lieutenant Governor. It did not find the resonance it had hoped for.

“We fought a good election… We will play the role of constructive opposition but will also be available to the people of Delhi,” Kejriwal said as he conceded defeat in an election he had hoped would make him Chief Minister for a fourth time and propel him as a national leader.

Kejriwal’s defeat

For the AAP national convenor, the face of the party born of an anti-corruption movement in 2013, it was a tantalising see-saw ending in despair. As the morning progressed, Kejriwal was trailing, then leading, and then trailing again. And at the end of the day came the verdict—he had lost by 4,089 votes to the BJP’s Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma. The Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit, son of three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, was a far third with only 4,568 votes.

As one more line was added to the Congress’ epitaph, the AAP struggled with its own existential crisis. A loss in Delhi, which it ruled for 10 successive years from 2015, may signal an end to its national ambitions, with Punjab is the only State in its kitty.

Atishi, who took over as Chief Minister after Kejriwal stepped down when he was jailed, was the face-saver of sorts, winning Kalkaji with a margin of 3,521 votes against the BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri. “I have won my seat but this is not a time for celebration—this is the time to fight. The battle against BJP’s authoritarianism will continue,” she said.

It was a dramatic downslide for the party, which won 67 of the 70 seats in 2015—when it established its dominance by wiping out both the Congress and the BJP—and 62 seats in 2020. The promise of mohalla clinics, model schools, free water, and electricity seemed to have lost their sheen.

The Congress headquarters were desolate and workers at the AAP office were shell-shocked, their leaders huddled in conference as they pondered the future. At BJP offices, however, there were drumbeats of victory and euphoria, party workers waving flags, holding lotus cut-outs, dancing and smearing colours of celebration on each other. And Modi was the mantra.

Also Read | Understanding Kejriwal’s startling claims over Yamuna water crisis

One man had come all the way from Ujjain. “I came here for the Bharatiya Janata Party, and I stand here in the name of Narendra Modi.” It did not matter who the Chief Minister would be.

“Who will be Chief Minister will be decided by the central leadership,” said Parvesh Verma, dubbed giant killer for defeating Kejriwal in the New Delhi seat. BJP’s Delhi president Virendra Sacheva echoed him. “The next Delhi Chief Minister will be from the BJP but the central leadership will decide on who it will be.” According to Sachdeva, BJP candidates had worked diligently and Delhi’s voters had chosen development and a corruption-free governance model. “The people have picked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership because they wanted a model of development.”

Asserting that the BJP would form a “double-engine government” in Delhi, he said, “We have no hesitation in saying that this win is a result of PM Modi’s vision. We will ensure that Delhi gets a strong and stable government.” Taking a dig at Kejriwal and his party, he said the BJP fought the elections on real issues affecting Delhiites such as broken roads, liquor policy controversies, dirty water, and corruption. “Delhi’s pain is real, and the people have voted to end it by choosing PM Modi’s leadership,” Sachdeva said.

The BJP had 45.7 per cent of the vote share, the AAP 43.5, and the Congress 6.3. And as political analysts debated the future of the opposition INDIA bloc and the benefits of joining hands to combat a resurgent BJP, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said in a caustic post on X: “Aur lado aapas mein!!! (Keep on fighting each other).” “It would have been better had the ties between the AAP and the Congress been good. Both parties fought against the BJP separately. Had they contested jointly, the BJP’s defeat would have been certain. We should take lessons from this,” added Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.

With inputs from agencies