Upon the conclusion of the 2025 Delhi Assembly election, it is clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decisively unsettled the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), securing 48 out of the 70 seats, while the AAP only managed to secure 22. The scale of the defeat is evident in the loss of key AAP leaders, including former Chief Minister and national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and former Health Minister Satyendar Jain.
One of the most pressing questions emerging from this result is the extent to which the corruption narrative worked against AAP. From the moment AAP won in 2020, the BJP made it a mission to dismantle its two core pillars—the anti-corruption image and the ‘Delhi Model’ of governance. The sustained allegations, particularly with regard to the liquor policy scam, created a credibility crisis that ultimately crippled AAP.
While many political analysts believed corruption wouldn’t be a decisive electoral issue, the reality on the ground proved otherwise. The relentless CBI and Enforcement Directorate probes into AAP’s leadership tarnished its reputation, weakening its appeal among voters. Kejriwal’s narrative of political victimhood failed to gain traction, unlike Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, who successfully converted his legal troubles into public sympathy.
Fundamentally, this election served as a test of AAP and Kejriwal's credibility, and the electorate decisively rejected them.
On The Backfoot with Corruption Allegations
In Indian politics, corruption allegations against parties are not uncommon. Under Narendra Modi’s regime, opposition leaders have frequently faced targeted probes. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, for instance, was jailed on corruption charges but managed to fight back and win the assembly election. In West Bengal, despite multiple corruption allegations against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led her party to a strong performance in the 2024 general elections.
So why did the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) bear the brunt of corruption allegations and face a crushing defeat in the 2025 Delhi Assembly election? One key reason lies in AAP’s origins—it was born out of an anti-corruption movement. Ironically, allegations of corruption have now emerged in nearly every sector where AAP has governed. Beyond the high-profile liquor policy scam, which led to the arrests of Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and Sanjay Singh, AAP faced accusations of corruption in water supply projects, school classroom construction, Mohalla Clinics, and even bus procurement.
These mounting allegations created the perception that AAP had become just another corrupt political party, eroding the trust it once enjoyed.
Governance failures further amplified this perception. As corruption probes intensified, the AAP government struggled to deliver on its promises, reinforcing the belief that misgovernance was linked to corruption. Realising the electoral damage, AAP turned to political consultancy firm I-PAC just three months before the election, hoping to salvage its position through ground surveys and strategy. While AAP had also enlisted I-PAC’s help in 2020, that campaign had the direct involvement of Prashant Kishor. This time, with Kishor no longer at the helm, many of I-PAC’s surveys failed to capture the mood on the ground.
AAP insiders reveal that internal surveys made it clear that corruption allegations had deeply hurt the party, especially among middle-class voters. Sensing the growing anti-incumbency sentiment, AAP dropped at least 20 sitting MLAs from its candidate list in an attempt to counter the damage. Additionally, the party introduced a last-minute seven-point middle-class manifesto—an unprecedented move—aimed at regaining trust. But by then, the damage was done. The electorate had already made up its mind, and AAP’s credibility had taken a decisive hit.
Middle-Class Pockets Distanced
The corruption allegations seem to have proved disastrous for AAP, particularly in middle-class-dominated constituencies. Every major AAP leader named or questioned in the Delhi liquor policy scam suffered electoral defeat, including Arvind Kejriwal (New Delhi), Manish Sisodia (Jangpura), and Durgesh Pathak (Rajinder Nagar). Even Satyendar Jain, jailed in a separate corruption case, lost in Shakur Basti.
AAP insiders anticipated that corruption allegations would hurt the party most in middle-class areas, where voters are more responsive to governance and accountability issues. To counter this, the party fielded its most prominent faces in these constituencies, banking on their personal appeal. But the strategy backfired, as these very leaders were seen as the faces of alleged corruption.
In the 12 key middle-class-dominated seats—New Delhi, Greater Kailash, Malviya Nagar, Rajinder Nagar, Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Rohini, Dwarka, Tilak Nagar, Shakur Basti, Jangpura, and Patparganj—AAP suffered heavy losses.
Kejriwal, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Somnath Bharti, Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia, Awadh Ojha, and Durgesh Pathak all failed to secure victories. AAP retained only three: Patel Nagar, Karol Bagh, and Tilak Nagar.
Even Atishi, who won from Kalkaji, admitted that her worst performance came from middle-class pockets, where she trailed in several counting rounds. She secured victory only because the constituency also has a significant lower-income population. Interestingly, while AAP’s overall vote share declined by just 3 percent compared to BJP, the losses were concentrated in specific demographics, especially the middle class.
This election was a referendum on corruption, and the middle class, once AAP’s backbone, delivered its verdict. The results highlight a targeted backlash rather than a wholesale collapse, but the damage to AAP’s credibility is undeniable.
‘Muffler Man’ in ‘Sheesh Mahal’
Since the arrest of Sisodia in the liquor policy scam, AAP found itself on the defensive, constantly responding to BJP’s corruption allegations. Kejriwal, who built his brand as a leader of change, failed to convince voters that these charges were mere political vendetta. Even when he secured bail from the Supreme Court and dramatically resigned as Delhi’s Chief Minister, his response remained predictable—returning to his old formula of freebies, including the Mahila Samman Yojana.
This was a critical miscalculation. Although the AAP once excelled in governance, the past five years have revealed shortcomings in its commitments. By recycling the same assurances without tangible results, Kejriwal’s credibility eroded. In contrast, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, facing similar legal troubles, successfully turned his arrest into a personal battle against the system, rallying voter sympathy. Kejriwal, despite having the same opportunity, failed to shift the narrative in his favour.
Instead of direct voter engagement, he relied on press conferences and podcast interviews, which didn’t resonate with the electorate. The result was clear—AAP couldn't shake off the corruption taint, and Kejriwal lost the very trust that once propelled him to power.
Kejriwal’s transformation from the humble “muffler man” to the occupant of a lavish Rs 33.66 crore official residence, shrewdly dubbed Sheesh Mahal (a palace of mirrors) by the BJP, further dented his carefully crafted image. For a leader who built his political career on simplicity and transparency, this extravagance became a self-inflicted wound. The BJP capitalised on the controversy, using it as a symbol of AAP’s hypocrisy and alleged corruption. The BJP had claimed that the remodelling included installation of a ‘golden toilet’, ‘swimming pool’ and a ‘mini bar’ inside the CM residence.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports only added to the fire, flagging financial irregularities not just in the renovation of Kejriwal’s residence but across multiple government projects. These findings became ammunition for the BJP, reinforcing its narrative of AAP’s mismanagement and deviation from its founding principles. Earlier in January, AAP’s Bhardwaj and Sanjay Singh tried to take the media and enter the residence, under lock and key at present, to prove these allegations wrong, but were stopped by police which, according to Singh, used water canons to prevent the leaders from entering.
The significance of Sheesh Mahal’s perceived symbolism seems evident post election as well. A day after results, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that BJP's CM will not occupy the controversial CM residence. Both the building and the AAP’s future remain uncertain now.
(The author, a columnist and research scholar, teaches journalism at St. Xavier’s College (autonomous), Kolkata. His handle on X is @sayantan_gh. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)