New Delhi: The BJP’s victory in the Delhi assembly election seems to have only reinforced ‘Brand Modi’, considering the party contested the election collectively, relying on the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ‘guarantees’.
On Saturday, the BJP’s national spokesperson Guru Prakash said, “The Delhi victory is a testament to the leadership of PM Modi. People have reposed faith in the governance model, the promises, and the Modi guarantees, which is of delivery … Eventually and essentially, ‘Brand Modi’ represents inclusivity and development. And ‘Sabka saath sabka vikas‘ is something that has a level of acceptance among the people of the country.”
Unlike the past when the BJP named chief ministerial candidates in Delhi, the party went to the polls this time without projecting any CM face, banking solely on the appeal of Modi. Addressing multiple rallies before the election, Modi set the BJP’s campaign tone as he coined the term ‘aapda (disaster)’ for the AAP, citing its “lack of vision” and “corruption”. The election also saw the return of ‘Modi ki guarantee’ on the BJP’s posters and advertisements for the Delhi election.
Senior BJP leader and incharge of Delhi Baijayant Panda stressed that the results show that the “people of Delhi have immense faith in PM Modi’s guarantees”. “Delhi will be free of the ‘aapda‘ disaster of corruption, lies and stalled development,” Panda said.
The ‘guarantee’, a slogan used by the BJP for the Lok Sabha poll, had ‘quietly’ gone missing after the party was unable to reach the target of ‘400-paar’ in the Parliament. As the poll campaign in Delhi progressed, the party focused on Modi’s guarantees again, with leaders highlighting the work done by the Modi government at the Centre for the capital.
With the Bihar assembly election set to take place later this year, the BJP is likely to focus on ‘Modi ki guarantee’ as a key theme of the party.
BJP back in power in Delhi after 27 yrs
The BJP has remained out of power in Delhi since 1998. In the recent past, the BJP named Kiran Bedi and senior BJP leader Harsh Vardhan as the party’s chief ministerial candidates in Delhi but could not win.
At the parliamentary level in Delhi, the BJP has had a successful run, winning all of the capital’s seven seats in 2014, 2019 and 2024. However, assembly results have been disappointing, with the party currently accounting for just eight of the city’s 70 MLAs. The AAP won 62 seats in the last election in February 2020.
The focus of the Delhi BJP’s campaign was Modi’s guarantees, with the party’s social media flooded with posts on them. Compared to this, in the Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections, ‘Modi ki guarantee’ was missing as a central theme of the party’s campaign.
Even the manifesto the Delhi BJP released ahead of the election focused on ‘Modi ki guarantee’ and carried multiple photos of the PM. The main page carried only Modi’s photo.
However, the party made an important distinction—Modi was not pitted against AAP convener and former CM Arvind Kejriwal.
Speaking to ThePrint, several BJP leaders said they were relying on Modi’s appeal as “he is the world’s most popular leader, but you can not compare him with Kejriwal, who is out on bail and not even allowed to sign the CM’s files”.
“Delhi BJP fought these elections collectively, and just as in other states, a CM was elected later, the CM will be elected in Delhi later,” said a senior BJP leader.
‘BJP project started in 2014 to solidify’
Experts agree that the Delhi election will only strengthen ‘Brand Modi’.
“Modi looms large on Indian politics and especially on BJP. I do not think the BJP, since the rise of Modi, has ever contested any election without him at the top and the umbrella coalition he created. The 2024 LS poll results were a huge setback to both BJP and Modi. At one point of time after that election, it looked like the BJP could be cornered.”
“The election results in Haryana, where the BJP was expected to not perform well, put a break on that slide. Then, the convincing victory in Maharashtra reversed the perception Modi and BJP were in decline. And now, in Delhi, where they had not been in power for 27 years, this kind of victory in the national capital will solidify the kind of project that the BJP started in 2014,” said Rahul Verma, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR).
“So in some ways coming to power in India’s political epicenter, managing a comfortable victory, is going to add another feather, if you want to call it that, to both BJP’s and Modi’s caps,” he added.
In the 2024 LS election, the main taglines in the BJP’s campaign and manifesto were ‘Modi ki guarantee’ and ‘phir ek baar Modi sarkaar.’ Right from the speeches of Modi to other senior BJP leaders, the focus was on good governance and delivery with a ‘stamp’ of Modi.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: BJP learnt from its mistakes. Here are 5 key strategies it used to dethrone AAP in Delhi