The results from Delhi are a vindication for the Aam Aadmi Party which returned to Delhi with a thumping majority this time. BJP had been reduced to single digits, while the Congress has failed to open its account in the capital.
Here are some key lessons the BJP and Congress:
Modi momentum slows down: The law of diminishing return seems to have caught up with PM Narendra Modi. With every state election, the Modi wave is losing its momentum. This defeat in Delhi is the first comprehensive loss for the BJP since it came to power at the Centre. BJP must realize they cannot rely on the Modi factor alone in state elections.
AAP a force to reckon with in Delhi: AAP may have fared miserably in the Lok Sabha polls and may not be a force at the national level, but the party still remains a major player in Delhi. Punjab may be next on AAP's agenda. BJP has to stay away from complacency in subsequent state elections. Congress, on the other hand, needs to do something drastic.
Congress's free fall continues: Congress which did not win a single seat is heading for oblivion with voters not yet ready to forgive the grand old party for its terrible misrule during the UPA II regime. There might be fresh rumblings about Rahul Gandhi's leadership in Congress.
Party's state units matter, Kiran Bedi a flop: For the BJP, Delhi assembly elections are more a reflection of a poor state unit than a loss of appeal of Modi among voters. There was too much infighting in the BJP's Delhi unit. The projection of Kiran Bedi as the CM candidate was a kind of vote of no-confidence in the BJP's state unit.
Anti-incumbency: The BJP has been a major gainer of anti-incumbency in the Lok Sabha as well as in subsequent state elections. In Delhi, with Modi as the PM, the BJP was not able to cash in on unsatisfactory performance of other governments.
Muslims are still wary of BJP: That BJP and Muslims don't share cordial electoral relationship is well-known. But recent provocation by Sakshi Maharaj and events like 'gahr wapsi' may have further driven Muslims away from the BJP.
Amit Shah suffers a setback: Delhi elections are the first major setback for BJP's "master strategist" Amit Shah. All the moves of Amit Shah including getting Kiran Bedi as BJP's CM candidate failed to click with Delhi voters.
State and Lok Sabha polls are different: To be fair to PM Narendra Modi, this was not an election about him. It was all about Arvind Kejriwal and AAP in Delhi. With elections being more personality-centric, voters are increasingly showing a tendency to differentiate between local, state and Lok Sabha polls.
Opinion and exit polls are not always wrong: It has become a fashion among political parties to dismiss opinion and exit polls if they are not in their favour. This time most opinion and exit polls predicted an AAP win.
