The Congress has struggled to find its relevance in the national capital after some glorious years of Sheila Dikshit and the powerhouse the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) turned out to be since the Jantar Mantar protests. Its decline began when the AAP, popular among the masses as literally the aam aadmi party, surged in 2013. That was the year when Congress numbers in Delhi Assembly came down to 8, down from 43 seats with a 15 per cent decline in its vote share.
The following two elections – 2015 and 2020 – saw the Congress reduced to zero. Once a political giant, the Congress has yet again failed to make inroads into the hearts of the Delhi residents for a third time. The grand-old party was leading on one seat when the Election Commission started the postal ballot counting but as more trends started coming in, it became clear that there was no revival for it.
There are said to be many, many reasons behind Congress’ downfall in Delhi. The party had done fairly well in the Lok Sabha election 2024 when Rahul Gandhi marched across the country in his Bharat Jodo Yatra, meeting common people along the way and introducing the idea of love. The result of his reach out to the masses reflected in the Lok Sabha results. But his party failed to leverage the admiration and unwavering determination to defeat the BJP Rahul Gandhi displayed during his march.
‘Faceless Congress’
Not having a strong leader to represent it in Delhi has proven to be very expensive for the Congress. After Sheila Dikshit, the Congress has struggled to find its Delhi face leader who could match the influence of Arvind Kejriwal and Manoj Tiwari. The Congress has not even announced a chief minister candidate in the Delhi election 2025.
‘Not capitalising on its work’
It is true that Delhi was modernised when Sheila Dikshit was the chief minister from 1998 to 2013. She launched several projects in Delhi such as metro rail and flyovers; improved healthcare facilities and educational institutions; set up the Delhi Commission for Women and also the 181 helpline number for women.
She also initiated green reforms in the public transport sector successfully, accomplishing the shift from polluting vehicles to a CNG-based fleet.
While this will remain Congress’ legacy, the party needs a leadership that would build on its contributions to the national capital.
Also Read | Delhi Elections 2025: Why is Congress all out against AAP and what happened in previous polls?
‘Ladoge toh maroge’
The BJP lost several seats in the Lok Sabha polls when many Opposition parties came together as the INDIA bloc, despite being at loggerheads with each other. That did not stay for long.
Just months after its good showing in the general elections, the INDIA bloc ran out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions, resulting in the state polls turning nasty and diminishing electoral returns for the bloc.
With the defeat of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, the number of INDIA bloc governments in the country has come down to seven – Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
