New Delhi:
The BJP will have a Chief Minister in Delhi nearly three decades after a hard-fought prestigious battle. The ruling party snatched the fortress from the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who ruled the national capital for almost 12 years. Of the 70 assembly seats, BJP won 48 – beyond the majority mark, while AAP managed to win 22 seats. Congress yet again failed to open its account.
The last time the BJP had a Chief Minister in Delhi was nearly 26 years ago. Even then, the Capital witnessed three different Chief Ministers within a gap of five years – between 1993 and 1998. Let’s take a look at BJP’s old short tenure:
In 1993, BJP’s Madan Lal Khurana, known as “Delhi ka Sher” (Lion of Delhi), was the first Chief Minister to serve Delhi after the state Legislative Assembly was reinstated through the 69th Constitution Amendment Act, 1991. The party won 49 of the 70 assembly seats, while the Congress got 14 seats. However, in 1995, Mr Khurana’s name appeared in the infamous Hawala scandal. Amid the mounting pressure and charges of corruption, he resigned within 27 months.
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Mr Khurana’s resignation paved the way for BJP’s Sahib Singh Verma – the father of Parvesh Verma who defeated Mr Kejriwal this election. After a brief power struggle between Mr Verma and Mr Khurana, the then-second BJP Chief Minister faced massive criticism over onion prices – which reportedly rose to Rs 60 per kg in 1998. Amid this, Mr Verma had to step down from the Chief Ministerial position after 31 months.
Then came in BJP’s third Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj – the first woman leader of Delhi. Her tenure lasted for 52 days, before the assembly elections.
In the 1998 assembly elections, Congress came to power with Sheila Dikshit as the Chief Minister who ruled the national capital for 15 years. She was then defeated by Mr Kejriwal in 2013.
In the 2013 Assembly elections, the BJP, the single-largest party, bagged 31 seats, five seats less than the required majority in the 70-member house. The AAP and the Congress, with 28 and eight seats, subsequently joined hands to form a government but it only lasted 49 days. Following this, a President’s Rule was imposed in the national capital.
In 2015, AAP won 67 of 70 seats in the assembly elections. The BJP managed to win three seats, while the Congress could not even open its account. In 2020, AAP yet again pulled off another stellar performance by winning 62 out of the 70 assembly seats. The BJP improved its tally winning 8 seats, while the Congress – which had ruled the national capital between 1998 and 2013 – did not get any seats.
Now, after nearly 12 years, things came full circle for Mr Kejriwal as he was defeated by a little over 4,000 votes by BJP’s Parvesh Verma.
PM Modi on BJP’s Delhi victory
After BJP’s victory in Delhi on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed party workers at the office headquarters in the national capital. Thanking the people of Delhi, PM Modi said, “Delhi has given us love wholeheartedly and I once again assure the people that we will return you double the love in the form of development.”
“Those who thought they owned have now seen their truth in the mirror. The people of Delhi have made it clear that the rightful owners of Delhi are the ‘people of Delhi’. Delhi’s mandate has made it clear that there’s no space for corruption, and lies in politics. Delhi voters never disappointed me in the Lok Sabha elections. In all three general elections, the BJP won all 7 seats,” he added.
