As the year approaches its end, it is neither premature nor misplaced to take stock of the events and developments that have shaped Delhi over the past 12 months. The year has been politically momentous, administratively challenging, and civically demanding. Above all, it has marked a decisive shift in the city’s political trajectory with a change of government that many believed was long overdue.
The most significant development was the end of the decade-long rule of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). After 10 tumultuous years in power, a period that began with lofty promises of honesty, transparency, and a new political culture, the party exited the Delhi Secretariat under a cloud of corruption allegations, leadership crises, and internal contradictions.
The BJP returned to power in Delhi after a gap of 27 years. Its victory was framed not merely as a change of guard but as a promise of restoring governance and accelerating development. At the helm of this transition stood Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who inherited an opportunity and an enormous responsibility. Her government faced onerous task of bringing the city “back on the rails” after years of administrative disruption and policy paralysis.
Complicating matters was the backdrop of an unrelenting narrative war on social media. The outgoing AAP, though electorally defeated, remained highly active in shaping public discourse, often seeking to frame every civic difficulty as proof of BJP’s failure. The new government, despite performing reasonably on several governance parameters, appeared at times to be losing the battle of perception.
The government’s immediate test came in the form of three major civic challenges that define Delhi’s annual administrative cycle. The first was the harsh summer, with its surging electricity demand and the ever-present threat of power shortages. The second was the monsoon, which routinely exposes the city’s fragile drainage infrastructure, leading to flooding, traffic paralysis, and civic chaos. The third was winter, when Delhi’s air quality deteriorates, choking the city and drawing national and international scrutiny.
No government, regardless of intent or competence, can fully resolve these deeply structural issues within a nine-month window. Yet, the BJP government made the strategic error of suggesting that it could. Buoyed by its relatively successful handling of peak summer power demand, it got emboldened enough to project an image of near-instant administrative turnaround. This overconfidence was to soon prove costly.
While the summer passed without major electricity disruptions, the monsoon exposed persistent weaknesses. Flooded roads, waterlogged underpasses, and traffic snarls returned with familiar regularity. The winter brought back the grim reality of toxic air, reminding citizens that air pollution is a multi-state, multi-agency problem far beyond the control of a single city government.
A flawed media and communication strategy aggravated the situation. By creating expectations of near-magical solutions, the government set itself up for criticism when reality intervened. Governance rarely delivers instant fulfilment. It demands patience, coordination, and long-term planning, virtues unknown to headline-driven politics.
For Chief Minister Gupta, the initial period of political probation is now over. The way forward demands a recalibration of priorities. The government must now firmly adopt a “delivery first, byte later” approach. Policy announcements and media soundbites must follow tangible action on the ground.
History will not judge the Rekha Gupta government by the sharpness of its rebuttals on social media or the frequency of ministerial statements. It will judge it by the governance legacy it leaves behind of cleaner air, better infrastructure, reliable services, and a city that functions with dignity for all its residents.
Sidharth Mishra
Author and president, Centre for Reforms,
Development & Justice