Delhi continues to vote differently on the national, local front

Updated: Tuesday, February 11, 2020, 18:23 [IST]

New Delhi, Feb 11: The BJP was unable to hold on to its 2019 Lok Sabha vote share in the Delhi Assembly elections.

The BJP which bagged 57 per cent of the votes in 2019 could manage only 38.81 per cent as per the latest trends by the Election Commission of India. The Aam Admi Party, on the other hand, had a 53.50 per cent vote share in comparison to the 54 per cent during the 2015 assembly polls, when it won 67 of the 70 seats.

Delhi continues to vote differently on the national, local front — File photo

The trend in Delhi has normally been to vote differently in national and local elections. In 2013, the AAP made its debut and secured 28 of the 70 seats. The BJP won 32, which was four short of the majority mark. The AAP and Congress formed the government but it was able to last just 49 days.

In the 2014 elections, on the national level, Narendra Modi led the BJP to an impressive victory. The AAP contested the national elections in 2014 but was unable to put up a fight. The loss came as a set back for the AAP which went back to focusing on Delhi. The results in 2015 were extremely impressive for the AAP, which won 67 of the 70 seats.

The BJP, however, put up an impressive show in the 2017 municipal body elections. The party bagged 36 per cent of the votes and won 181 of the total 272 seats. The AAP, on the other hand, secured 48 seats with a 26 per cent vote share.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the people of Delhi voted on national issues. The BJP won all the 7 states in Delhi and posted a 57 per cent vote share. In fact, the party was ahead in all the 65 assembly constituencies in Delhi in 2019.

The Congress in the national poll performed better than the AAP. The party garnered 22 per cent of the votes when compared to the AAP's 18 per cent. However, AAP looking at the manner in which Delhi votes was extremely confident that it would defeat the BJP in a local election. The trends in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand are indicators that the people gave a thumping mandate in the national poll, but the party did find favour with the voters in the local elections.