Opposition in Goa can refine their electoral moves by studying the Delhi election
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) decimated the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi assembly election 2025, with the former bagging 48 seats in the 70-seat strong assembly. It was the biggest victory that the BJP has seen in Delhi in more than a quarter of a century. AAP, which had won 62 seats in the assembly, could secure only 22 seats, with its top brass, except for Atishi, being defeated. The party’s vote share has definitely dropped, but the difference in vote share between the Kejriwal party and BJP is just 2%. Congress drew a blank.
Several factors contributed to AAP’s ouster and BJP’s victory, including an aggressive opposition, corruption charges against AAP leaders, the arrests of Kejriwal and other party ministers in the excise policy ‘scam,’ the Sheesh Mahal controversy, BJP’s pro-middle class campaign, the proactive role of central agencies like the ED and Income Tax department, the Modi factor, and, of course, each party contesting independently.
BJP wresting power in Delhi and uprooting AAP, which governed the national capital for a decade, marks a significant setback for the INDIA bloc. Parties like Congress and AAP, which had spoken about opposition unity before the last Lok Sabha polls, were fiercely at odds this time.
And the result was not different from what was expected by the BJP. Non-BJP parties fighting against each other gave BJP the advantage. If Congress and AAP had to fight the polls as one entity, things would have been different, say analysts. Well, ifs and buts don’t matter in politics; numbers do.
There are several lessons for Goa and the opposition parties here. Lack of unity among opposition parties is one of the main factors for AAP’s loss. This underlines the importance of strategic alliances and coalition-building in electoral politics. Goa’s political parties will have to learn from the Delhi experience and see how they can mend fences to remain relevant on Goa’s political canvas for the next assembly elections.
In Delhi, till the election, BJP proved to be a strong opposition, and they had the Centre to keep AAP under control with some powers not being enjoyed by the elected Delhi government. Unity among anti-BJP parties is important for electoral success. In politics, perception matters, and the differences witnessed among the seven members of opposition parties during the winter session of the assembly last week were a talking point.
The opposition parties will have to be strong and aggressive in their approach in highlighting corruption and people’s issues. It doesn’t matter that the BJP-led ruling side has 33 MLAs; there is much scope for the opposition to take up acts of omission and commission. The main opposition party, Congress, has much ground to cover. BJP’s strength has been its organisation. Taking a cue from it, Congress needs to strengthen its base, which seems to be eroding after every state election. It is not that there are no Congress supporters; it is that local units are not being nursed by the party’s leaders. The central leadership needs to take a hard look if they want the grand-old-party to come back to power. Congress, over the years, had become an individual-centric party. If one leader switches over to another party, Congress would find it difficult to win the seat back. This shouldn’t be the state of affairs of any party. Leaders need to bury their egos and start work in the right earnest.
By analysing these lessons, Goa’s political parties can refine their strategies and improve their chances of success in future elections.
