The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been swept back to power in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi in the recently concluded legislative assembly election. It ended 27 years of political wilderness for the BJP in the national capital since 1998, when it lost power.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was seeking its fourth consecutive term in power was voted out and its top leadership including former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lost their seat.

The incumbent Chief Minister Atishi Marlena of the AAP party, who managed to retain her assembly seat, has resigned as the Chief Minister.

The term of the 7th Delhi Legislative Assembly ends on the 23rd of February 2025 and a new Chief Minister of the BJP is expected to be sworn in before that.

BJP bagged 48 seats in the 70-member Delhi legislative assembly while Aam Aadmi Party could win only 22 seats.

In the previous legislative assembly, AAP had 62 members while BJP had 8 members.

Election for the 8th Delhi Legislative Assembly and its result

The election to constitute the 8th legislative assembly of the NCT of Delhi was held on 5 February 2025. The single-phase election saw a voter turnout of 60.54%, with over 94.5 lakh people casting their votes.

According to the Election Commission of India, BJP secured 45.74% of the votes followed by AAP at 43.78%, while the Congress party secured 6.37% of the valid votes polled.

The NOTA (None of the above) secured 0.57% of the votes.

NOTA was introduced by the Election Commission of India in 2013 after the Supreme Court judgment. Under the NOTA option, the votes can register their protest against the political parties and candidates by opting for NOTA.

Final Seat Tally

BJP-48

APP-22

Total-70

Arvind Kejriwal loses New Delhi seat

Founder and face of the AAP, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal lost his New Delhi legislative assembly seat.

He lost his seat to the BJP candidate Parvesh Verma by 4089 votes.

Atishi Marlena who became the 3rd woman to become the Chief Minister of NCT of Delhi, after the resignation of Arvind Kejriwal in September 2024, won her Kalakaji assembly constituency..

Other prominent leaders of AAP who lost were former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, former Minister Satyendra Jain, and Saurabh Bharadwaj.

Congress loses deposit in 67 constituency

The Congress for the third time failed to win a single seat in the 70-member Delhi legislative assembly. It failed to win a single seat in the 2015, 2020, and 2025 legislative assembly elections.

In the 2025 election, the Congress contested all 70 seats but its candidates lost their deposit in 67 constituencies.

According to the Representation of People Act 1951, a general candidate who wants to contest the assembly election has to deposit Rs 10,000 while the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidate has to deposit Rs 5,000 to the Election Commission of India.
If the candidate is not elected and fails to secure more than one-sixth of the total valid votes cast then the Election Commission of India does not return the money to the candidate.

About NCT of Delhi

After the Promulgation of the constitution on 26 January 1950, the erstwhile British Indian States and the princely states were divided into four Groups A, B, C, and D.

Delhi was put in Group C and a legislative assembly was constituted in 1952 with Chaudhary Brahm Prakash as its first Chief Minister.

After the passing of the State Reorganisation Act 1956, the grouping of states was abolished and 14 states and 6 Union territories were formed in the country.
Delhi was made a Union Territory without any legislative assembly.
In 1991 the Parliament passed the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi Act which renamed the region as the National Capital Territory of Delhi and provided for a 70-member Legislative Assembly.
The Assembly members are directly elected by the people for a term of five years.
It also provided for a Chief Minister to be appointed by the President of India.
The first election to constitute a legislative assembly in NCT Delhi was held in 1993.
The election to constitute the 8th assembly was held on 5th February 2025.