Delhi's next act: BJP should focus on improving governance in the city

It has been more than a quarter century since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled the National Capital Territory of Delhi. For three terms, the Congress’ Sheila Dikshit kept the BJP out of power in a city that had been its stronghold, and that of its predecessor party, since Independence. And the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stormed to national prominence by displacing the Congress in Delhi about a decade ago, feeding its ambitions of becoming the BJP’s primary Opposition nationwide. That has all changed now, after the BJP took home 48 of the 70 seats in the Assembly elections, the results to which were declared last week. This is a sharp reversal since the 2020 election, in which the BJP was kept at eight seats, while the AAP took home 62. The Congress, which hoped for a revival in the state, once again failed to win even a single seat in the Assembly, nor did its vote share recover, increasing only by 2 percentage points or so. Had the Congress done better, the chances were that the AAP’s vote share would have collapsed — but that did not happen. In the end, a swing of about 7 per cent towards the BJP from the AAP was sufficient for the latter to lose relatively poorly.

 

This result is best interpreted, therefore, as a straightforward vote for change and improved governance. Certainly, social issues did not appear to be part of the debate, with the focus being on welfare programmes and the quality of urban infrastructure. The BJP should honour this result and focus on improving the nature of governance in the city. The fact is that rivalry between the AAP and the BJP had led to relations between the Union and state governments being particularly poor; the residents of Delhi suffered as a consequence. That excuse for poor performance now no longer exists, especially because the AAP lost its majority in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi as well after some defections last year.

 

The new administration in Delhi will certainly have some challenges it will need to address. The competitive welfarism that was on display during these elections seemed to ignore the fact that Delhi’s fiscal position is nowhere near as comfortable as it was back when the AAP first deposed Sheila Dikshit by promising free electricity. Irresponsible governance has run down the surplus that the state government had achieved. The Delhi government, which till some years ago used to run a fiscal surplus, has been in deficit in the last few years. This is unfortunate, and repairing the city’s finances should be a priority. The citizens of Delhi clearly did not vote for one or the other party because of all the freebies on offer. If they turned against the AAP, it was because its big promises — particularly on matters such as health —have not panned out. Further, issues such as road quality, air quality, and drainage have been relatively neglected. The BJP will have to work on these issues, and also on the matter of restoring Delhi’s river, the Yamuna, to health.

 

For the AAP, it will be a long road to restore its national relevance. Although it continues to hold power in Punjab, it was its rule in Delhi that led it to believe that it could emerge as a credible national Opposition. This dream overtook its responsibility to provide good governance to Delhi’s citizens, and it is paying the price for such hubris. The party should re-examine its appeal, and where it fits into the Opposition alliance — with some measure of humility, it could rise again as a responsible party.