The Aam Aadmi Party returned to power in Delhi winning 88% of the seats and over 53% of the total votes. Since 1972, no other party has received such a strong mandate in a Delhi Assembly re-election.
Since the BJP’s win in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, there have been only 6 out of 33 State elections in which a non-BJP incumbent has returned to power.
AAP stands out
Table shows the contested seat share, contested vote share and total vote share of the winners and runners up in the 10 Assembly elections held in Delhi since 1972.
The two times when the Congress returned to power, its seat shares were over 60%. However, in the two instances when the AAP retained power, it won the highest number of seats since 1972 (67 and 62 seats, respectively).
Tough opposition
The table below looks at outcomes for 33 Assembly elections since 2014.
Of the 22 instances where the incumbents did not retain power, the BJP wrested control of the State in 13 instances. This suggests incumbent parties found it tough to overcome the BJP when it was in opposition. Of the 7 instances when the ruling party came back to power without a coalition, one (Gujarat) involved the BJP’s return.
Exceptions
Apart from the AAP in ‘15 & ‘20, the BJD in Odisha, the TMC in West Bengal, the TRS in Telangana and AIADMK in Tamil Nadu have successfully fought anti-incumbency in polls since 2014. In Telangana & T.N., the BJP is a weak force.
The table below compares the contested vote share (CVS) and the contested seat share (CSS) of the four regional parties and BJP across eight different elections.