New Delhi: Nearly 4 hours into counting of votes, the BJP is heading for a landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly elections. On the other hand, the AAP, which reduced the BJP to single-digit scores in the last election, received a big setback this time as it failed to cross the majority mark. In a major win, the BJP crossed the majority mark in the Delhi assembly election results, as per the early trends from the Election Commission. The BJP is currently leading on 46 seats while the AAP is ahead on 24 seats.
While Arvind Kejriwal is leading from the New Delhi seat by a vote margin of 254, AAP candidate and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj is trailing to BJP's Shikha Roy on Greater Kailash seat by 459 votes.
But what went wrong for the AAP in Delhi. Starting from Sheesh Mahal controversy to excise policy and Yamuna poisoning remark, there could be five factors that went against the ruling dispensation in Delhi.
Check here what went wrong for AAP in Delhi
Sheesh Mahal
During the election campaigning, the BJP's attack on Arvind Kejriwal focused on 'Sheesh Mahal' -- a term used to refer to the renovated Chief Minister's residence when Kejriwal was in office. What added more flavour to the BJP's charge is a report Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The CAG report stated that the preliminary estimate for the renovation was Rs 7.91 crore. This went up to 8.62 crore when work was awarded in 2020. However, by the time the Public Works Department completed the job in 2022, the cost had jumped to Rs 33.66 crore.
To counter the BJP’s attack, the AAP came up with 'Rajmahal' barb, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of an opulent lifestyle and daring the BJP to show the Prime Minister's residence.
Liquor Policy
The Atishi-led AAP government faced a massive uproar over corruption allegations surrounding Delhi's now-scrapped liquor policy. The BJP accused the Arvind Kejriwal government of making Delhi into a city of drunkards" after the new policy brought 'Buy 1 Get 1 free' offers on liquor bottles. However, the AAP denied any allegation in the liquor policy, which was scrapped less than a year after it was improved.
Strong investigations by central agencies led to the arrest of top leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh. After Sisodia was arrested, he stepped down as Deputy Chief Minister and AAP had to rejig its cabinet. Later, Kejriwal was arrested and remained in prison for five months. The arrests of several top leaders kept the AAP in firefighting mode throughout its third term.
Yamuna poisoning claims
During the election campaigning for Delhi Assembly election, Arvind Kejriwal’s claims of Yamuna poisoning seems to have played a negative role for the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections. Despite his repeated promises to clean the Yamuna, the river remains polluted even as AAP's 2015 manifesto had also committed to 100% sewage treatment and cleaning the river. Instead of taking any action to clean Yamuna, Kejriwal and AAP landed in a political dispute with the BJP over the pollution.
False promises by AAP
Kejriwal made many false promises which eroded his credibility as a promising leader for voters. Even as the AAP first emerged as an alternative to Congress and BJP in 2013, it failed to deliver on key promises. The AAP in 2015 formed a government on promises of free electricity, water, and improved education, but aside from some freebies, development remained limited.
Even with showcasing Mohalla Clinics and improved schools, opposition parties, especially the BJP, countered these claims and accused the AAP of dysfunction and manipulation. Several other promises such as water connections and reduction of air pollution were not fulfilled, and Rozgar Budget in 2023 also could not deliver its job creation promises.
Anti-Incumbency
Anti-Incumbency factor also played another major role in giving a big setback to the AAP government in Delhi elections. Even as the AAP scored significant victories in Delhi in the 2015 and 2020 polls and its first two terms saw impressive work in sectors such as health and education. However, with time, unfulfilled promises, among them better air quality, started disturbing the voters in Delhi. In the last 10 years of the AAP rule, voters saw several allegations as excuses. In the nbackdrop of the AAP's constant run-ins with the Centre, the BJP's 'double engine' promise appealed to the voters and the results reflect that.