The discussion on the defeat of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi seems to be reaching an end. The victory of the BJP was not much discussed as the focus immediately shifted to who would be the next Chief Minister and the Ministers. The speculations had a free run with Prime Minister Narendra Modi being away on a trip to France and the United States for almost a week.
The role which the Congress played in this poll somewhat went without being discussed much. With the BJP not in any mood to share credit with anybody else for their victory in the national capital, Prime Minister Modi himself decided to mention in his speech that the grand old party was nowhere in the running.
This is far from the truth. The section within the Congress, which was consistently opposed to Arvind Kejriwal, must be patting its back at ousting the original usurper of power from office. Kejriwal, after all was a big beneficiary of the liberal social sector policies of Sheila Dikshit and later against whose government he launched an anti-corruption movement.
The Congress state units, wherever Aam Aadmi Party managed to make a presence, be it Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, Goa, Uttarakhand or for that matter Haryana, have opposed any truck with them. However, there are certain lieutenants of Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhiwho have supported a relationship with Kejriwal for propping up an anti-BJP alliance of the opposition parties.
In these columns (titled Desultory Congress campaign may make BJP lose again) a few months back we had mentioned about the dynamics of the upcoming assembly polls. The Congress despite many a pulls and pressures within its own party, finally took to seriously contesting the elections and contributed in a big way in the defeat of the AAP candidates, not just on the 15 seats where they polled more than the margin of the victory of the BJP candidates but also creating a sense of its presence on all the seats.
Despite not opening its account in Delhi in the third consecutive assembly poll, the Congress has done enough to change the dynamics within the INDIAlliance. Ever since the losses in Haryana and Maharashtra, the alliance partners especially the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party have been targeting the Congress leadership. The two also sent their leaders to campaign for the AAP candidates in the polls.
However, the AAP defeat has changed the dynamics overnight. There was this news report which mentioned about the disquiet within the Trinamool Congress. While all have followed up on what’s happening in Punjab with the possibility of the AAP government there led by
Bhagwant Mann coming down, these results also matters for the two allies who stuck their neck out – Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool Congress.
The Trinamool MLAs are already pressing panic button regarding Congress making dent during the assembly polls in West Bengal in 2026. Party chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had to address the MLAs saying, “Here in West Bengal, Congress is not a factor. In Delhi, Congress can spoil the journey of AAP. But here they can’t. We will fight alone in the coming Assembly election and we will win more than two-thirds seats… Here nobody is a factor and can’t take away our votes.”
However, her nephew and second in command took a softer stand on the alliance saying that it was for the Congress to take a call whether they would want to enter into an alliance with the Trinamool for the larger interest of the opposition unity. Though de jure it may not seem to be a departure from Mamata’s position but defacto, it is and no gusses that Delhi outcome has resulted into it.
Coming back to city’s politics, it’s time for the Congress to start rebuilding the party from here and prepare itself for as tough battle in the Municipal Corporation polls, which are due in another two years. Their campaign in the just concluded assembly polls tried to create a renaissance feeling about Sheila Dikshit’s regime.
This theme had its sympathisers too. They can work on it further and try and reap a good harvest during the municipal polls, replacing AAP as the main opposition as the first step towards the revival of the party.
Sidharth Mishra
Author and president, Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice