Opinion
Mint Quick Edit | Is the BJP set to oust AAP in Delhi?
Summary
- Exit polls after its assembly polls suggest so. These are far from infallible, but the stakes are high and a BJP win would draw attention again to Delhi’s unusual statehood.
Exit polls after Assembly elections were held in Delhi on Wednesday show the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning power. To be sure, such polls have been way off the mark in recent times and sampling errors in India are common. So it’s important to wait for results of the vote count.
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Yet, should the forecasts turn out right, the BJP would oust the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), whose decade-long hold on Delhi had defied its political sway across India. It would mark its return to power in Delhi after more than two-and-a-half decades, since AAP had taken it from the Congress, which also had a long stint running this Union territory with state-like characteristics.
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The swing in votes away from AAP would have to be large for it to lose, given the outsized 60-plus seat majority it has had. An AAP loss would be a significant blow to the political ambitions of its chief Arvind Kejriwal, who has often been pitched by his party as a potential national-level leader of an anti-BJP coalition.
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This drove the stakes higher for India’s ruling party than is usually the case for state-level polls. The irony is that Delhi lacks full statehood. How exactly this is interpreted would be watched closely if the BJP wins.
