Journalists gather at Bharatiya Janata Party state headquarters in New Delhi on February 8, 2025, as BJP leads in Delhi legislative assembly polls. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)
New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Saturday that "development had won" with his party tipped to win back control of the capital province Delhi in local elections.
"Development has won, good governance has won," Modi said, with counting still underway but with the city's former chief minister -- a key opposition leader to the prime minister -- confirmed having lost his seat.
Arvind Kejriwal lost his seat to Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to election commission results, reflecting expected wider losses by his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) -- which has governed the sprawling megacity of more than 30 million people for most of the past decade.
"We accept the verdict and congratulate the BJP," Kejriwal said in a video statement.
Modi's BJP is in government in the national parliament, but has not controlled the local legislature in the capital Delhi since 1998, and a win would be a symbolic and strategically important victory.
"We will leave no stone unturned in ensuring the overall development of Delhi and making the lives of residents better," Modi said in a post on social media.
Chanting BJP supporters danced in joy outside its New Delhi headquarters as vote results from the election on Wednesday were counted, waving flags and posters of Modi.
Counting continues -- the BJP were only marginally ahead of AAP with just over a third of seats declared -- but the election commission say Modi's party is leading in more than two-thirds of the 70-seat assembly.
"Our victory is a sign of the people's faith in Prime Minister Modi's vision of progress," interior minister and BJP stalwart Amit Shah said in a statement.
"The Delhi mandate shows that people can't be misled with lies every time."
'Very strong position'
Kejriwal, who rode to power as an anti-corruption crusader a decade ago, spent several months behind bars last year on accusations his party took kickbacks in exchange for liquor licences, along with several fellow party leaders.
Kejriwal has denied wrongdoing and characterised the charges as a political witch hunt by Modi's government.
He was one of the key pillars of an opposition block formed ahead of India's general elections last year, when the BJP suffered significant losses despite holding on to power.
Kejriwal's defeat in his stronghold puts the BJP "back in a very strong position", said Rahul Verma, of the Centre for Policy Research think-tank in New Delhi.
"Now it seems what happened in general elections was a temporary lapse," Verma added. "And it has put AAP in a difficult position going ahead."
Despite hectic weeks-long campaigning, little was said about the capital's crippling air pollution crisis, which smothers the city for months in hazardous fumes.
New Delhi is regularly ranked the worst capital in the world for choking smog, which often surges as much as 60 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum.
Years of piecemeal government initiatives have failed to measurably address the problem, with the smog blamed for thousands of premature deaths annually and particularly impacting the health of children and the elderly.
