In an election that turned out to be closer than expected, the AAP scored a prestigious victory while the BJP did not lose as badly as expected. Congress barely found some correlation.

The AAP, led by Arvind Kejriwal, has won the prestige battle of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), toppling the entrenched Bharatiya Janata Party. It won 134 seats, eight more than its majority in the house of 250 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), campaigning on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, won 104 seats, a decent performance after 15 consecutive years in power.

Reducing Congress to nine means its base in Delhi continues to erode. In the 2017 MCD polls, the BJP won 181 of 272 constituencies, while the AAP secured just 48 seats and Congress 30.

A grand celebration was held at the AAP office, with supporters dancing to the beat of dhol and children dressed as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. From morning on, the office is ready with balloons and celebratory posters. AAP leaders are deadlocked as vote counts are far more drastic than the AAP sweep predicted by exit polls.

The AAP was its first victory over the BJP in any election. Its success in Delhi was either against Congress or a vote of confidence while in power. In Punjab earlier this year, it again won the support of the Congress Party. Party leader Sanjay Singh noted: “The BJP always said AAP just defeated Congress. Today, Arvind Kejriwal gave them an answer.”

Although the BJP has not formed a Delhi state government for the past 24 years, its control over the MCD through Congress and the AAP government remains strong. Although the AAP won 67 of the 70 seats in the 2015 assembly election, the BJP retained the MCD two years later.

The AAP and BJP both currently control parts of Delhi’s executive branch through the state and central governments see it as a prestige battle. It is the first referendum since the MCD was reunited from districts into three districts about 10 years ago and redistricted after the BJP’s latest term ended earlier this year.

Voting in the capital’s 250 constituencies took place on December 4. Total 1,349 candidates entered the race, and voter turnout was around 50%.

The AAP and BJP, both currently controlling parts of Delhi’s administration through state and central governments, see it as a battle of prestige. These were the first civic polls after the area-wise MCD was divided into three parts nearly 10 years ago, and the wards were redrawn after the BJP’s latest term ended earlier this year. There were more than 1300 candidates in the election.

It is worth noting that the BJP had swept seats from Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain and Atishi but lost control of other surrounding areas, which they did not focus on when other states held simultaneous elections.