The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) achieved a resounding victory in the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, winning 48 of the 70 seats and ending the decade-long rule of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Arvind Kejriwal. This triumph marks BJP’s first assembly election win in Delhi since 1993—an achievement nearly three decades in the making.

However, this victory was far from effortless. The BJP executed a meticulously planned and aggressive campaign, dismantling not just AAP’s governance model but also its leadership structure. The party not only secured a sweeping majority but also managed to defeat AAP’s top brass, including Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, former health minister Satyendar Jain, and cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj.

While anti-incumbency against Kejriwal played a role, it would be simplistic to attribute BJP’s victory solely to voter fatigue with AAP. The BJP carefully crafted and dominated the electoral narrative, capitalising on AAP’s governance failures, corruption allegations, and leadership crisis. The ‘Sheesh Mahal’ controversy, the liquor scam, and the arrests of key AAP leaders weakened the party’s credibility, while BJP successfully positioned itself as the alternative.

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This election has not just changed Delhi’s political landscape but also dealt a severe blow to AAP’s national ambitions. For Kejriwal, the challenge now is not just to recover from defeat but to keep his party politically relevant in the long run.

The BJP’s emphatic victory in the 2025 Delhi Assembly election was not merely a result of anti-incumbency or AAP’s decline—it was powered by the RSS’s deep-rooted mobilisation. Over 50,000 ‘drawing room’ meetings were held across the city,........

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