Delhi Assembly Elections 2025 | AAP hopes for third term, BJP eyes comeback after 27 yrs as acerbic campaigning comes to end

New Delhi: One of the most acerbic campaigns in Delhi’s electoral history ended on Monday, leaving voters some time to choose whether to bring Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP back to power for a third term in the national capital or give the BJP a shot at power after 27 years.

AAP leaders are confident of retaining power while BJP claims that it is winning over 50 of the 70 seats. Congress is hoping for a better show after not winning even a single seat since the 2015 Assembly election. Delhi will vote on February 5 and counting of votes will be on February 8.

Senior leaders Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann from AAP, JP Nadda and Amit Shah from BJP and Congress’ Rahul Gandhi held roadshows and public meetings as a last push by levelling allegations against rivals and highlighting their promises.

While AAP and Congress have fielded candidates in all seats, BJP has allotted one each seat to JD(U) and LJP (Ramvilas).

Kejriwal said Delhi voters will defeat the BJP’s “gundagardi” while Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that Delhi has been left behind because the AAP kept “making excuses” and “fighting with the Centre” while states with a double-engine BJP government have progressed in the past 10 years.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also weighed in during an interaction with Delih students claiming that the AAP government does not allow students to take Class 10 exams if they perform poorly in Class 9 so that board exam results are not marred and its image is protected.

BJP MPs turned the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President’s speech in Parliament to a campaign opportunity with Ramvir Bidhuri in Lok Sabha claiming that only God or the Prime Minister could develop Delhi and Kiran Choudhary in Rajya Sabha alleging that the city has become a “dirty slum”.

The run up to the polling day is marked by allegations and counter allegations. Modi played on the Hindi word ‘aapda’ (disaster) to attack AAP while Kejriwal claimed that all social security schemes launched by them would see a quiet burial under the saffron party.

The campaign also saw Congress moving against its I.N.D.I.A ally AAP with Rahul and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge picking Kejriwal for sharp criticism.

All the three parties have promised several guarantees, including the promise of monthly allowance to women. The issue of cleaning of Yamuna, infrastructure development and housing for slum dwellers were also raised during the campaign.

Delhi Assembly Election 2025 | The first of two state assembly polls this year sees a three-way contest between AAP, Congress, and BJP in the nation's capital. AAP decided to contest the polls alone, causing rumours of a rift in I.N.D.I.A. BJP, meanwhile, is hoping the liquor excise policy scam and pollution in Delhi will give the saffron party an edge over AAP. Kejriwal, on the other hand, has different plans with his demand for reservations for Delhi Jats. Congress will also be looking to make its presence felt and has not held back from attacking its own alliance partner. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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