♕With the 2025 assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party marked its return to power in the capital after 27 years. The last BJP government in Delhi was in 1998.
🍷BJP's return to the capital also comes after long reigns by the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party. With this victory, the BJP ousted Arvind Kejriwal and AAP after a 10-year term in Delhi.
Delhi And Its Transformation
ꦉFrom being a Part-C state under British rule to the abolishment of the Delhi assembly, the national capital has seen many changes.
After 37 years without an assembly, in 1991, the PV Narasimha Rao 𝄹government restored powers to the Delhi government, resulting in the creation of the 70-seat assembly.
BJP Takes The Capital
♚In 1993, the assembly elections were dominated by the BJP, resulting in the appointment of Madan Lal Khurana as the Chief Minister.
🧸Khurana served as the chief minister for two years and was forced to resign due to the Hawala scandal, paving pay for Sahib Singh Verma to become the fourth CM of Delhi.
♏However, with not much time in office, Verma's tenure came with a side of infighting in the BJP. During his tenure as CM, Verma grappled with economic issues such as the spike in prices of onion, along with a power and water crises.
Due to this, public discontent with BJP 🍌was at an all-time high, resulting in Verma's resignation from the post, paving the way for Sushma Swaraj.
📖Sushma Swaraj went on to become the first female Chief Minister the capital had seen. During her tenure, Swaraj set up a committee to tackle the rising prices of onions; however, with public discontent still high, the BJP was ultimately voted out of power.
Delhi Under Sheila Dikshit
In 1998, Sheila Dikshit was appointed as the new Chief Minister of Delhi after the Congress ♏swept the assembly polls. With Dikshit in office, the Congress strengthened the party's hold over the capital and she went on to become the longest-serving female CM in the history of independent India.
ಞUnder Sheila Dikshit, Delhi saw a drastic rise in development, especially in infrastructure.
💎From the construction of various flyovers to the start of the Delhi Metro, the Congress government left its mark in the national capital.
ꦗThe Congress leader also played a key role in Delhi buses switching to CNG, privatisation of power distribution companies and trifurcation of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
𝔍Sheila Dikshit is seen as one of the greatest chief minister Delhi has seen. As per experts, the Congress leader maintained a great balance between the Centre and State.
ಌDikshit would find herself in office for the next 15 years. She carried out an infrastructure push again in 2010 with the Commonwealth Games. During CWG 2010, the Indira Gandhi International Airport was modernised.
Rise of AAP and Kejriwal
🍷The Commonwealth Games of 2010 had been mired in financial irregularities, which lead to a widespread anti-corruption movement in the national capital.
ꦦThis movement was led by social activist Anna Hazare. Hazare, who also went on a hunger strike during the protests, was joined by a young Arvind Kejriwal, who went on to form the Aam Aadmi Party.
𒊎Despite development spree across the capital, the corruption allegations against the Congress and UPA government resulted in the end of Sheila Dikshit's tenure as CM.
ꦰWith the Congress out, the people of Delhi voted for a new face--rvind Kejriwal from the Aam Aadmi Party.
💜Promises of cleaning up politics and ensuring accountability resulted in the next 10 years being led by Arvind Kejriwal.
💦After a hung assembly in 2013 and president's rule for another year, AAP and Kejriwal swept the 2015 polls and secured a total of 67 seats of 70.
𝄹Under Kejriwal, Delhi saw development in the fields of education and healthcare. With the Delhi education model and creation of Mohalla Clinics, the AAP government worked towards the betterment of day to day life of the common man.
ꦇKejriwal was also hailed for his odd-even scheme, which caused a tussle with the Central government, but effectively reduced the pollution levels across the capital.
🏅The AAP government launched a variety of schemes from free health care to the pink ticket scheme for women traveling in Delhi buses. However, from 2022 onwards, the AAP government also became embroiled in the Delhi excise policy scam.
ꦫThe scam would ultimately lead to the arrest of prominent AAP leaders such as Satyendra Jain, Manish Sisodia and then Arvind Kejriwal.
🍸With Kejriwal's arrest, the public of Delhi lost faith in the Aam Aadmi Party government, paving the way for BJP's return after 27 years.
