The big winners and losers of Delhi elections

The people of Delhi voted for change in 2025, giving BJP a shot at power after 27 years and a jolt to Arvind Kejriwal's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The high-stakes elections produced winners and losers in equal measure. While BJP was the ultimate winner of this year's first electoral battle, the Aam Aadmi Party, and the INDIA bloc by extension, emerged as the big loser.

Here are the big winners and losers of Delhi elections 2025:

Winners

Narendra Modi: The posterboy of BJP's Delhi campaign, PM Modi again proved that he can win elections for his party in the absence of a strong local candidate. Modi spearheaded BJP's campaign in Delhi and launched an all-out offensive on AAP to counter the Arvind Kejriwal factor.

Parvesh Verma: The son of former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma, Parvesh Verma proved to be the giant-killer after defeating Kejriwal from the New Delhi constituency by a margin of 4,089 votes. A fiery leader, Verma is also seen as the frontrunner for the CM's post.

Kapil Mishra: The former AAP leader, who is now one of the biggest AAP critics, emerged victorious from the Karawal Nagar constituency by a margin of over 23,000 votes. BJP had replaced Mishra with sitting MLA Mohan Singh Bisht and the gambit worked. Mishra won the same seat on AAP ticket in 2015.

Mohan Singh Bisht: Despite being replaced by Mishra, BJP's Bisht held his own in the election after emerging victorious in the Muslim-dominated Mustafabad, a constituency that was worst hit during the 2020 Delhi riots. Mustafabad has a strong presence of Muslims that comprises almost 40% of the total population.

Kailash Gahlot: The former AAP leader who joined BJP ahead of elections won the Bijwasan seat by a margin of 11,276 votes. While exiting AAP, Gehlot said that the party's political ambitions had overtaken its commitment to public welfare.

Amanatullah Khan: The firebrand AAP leader held the Okhla seat, defeating BJP's Manish Chaudhary by a margin of 23,639 votes. This will be his third victory from the seat.

Atishi: The outgoing Delhi chief minister secured a consolation victory from Kalkaji over heavyweights like BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri and Congress's Alka Lamba. Though her party lost the election, Atishi defied the odds and anti-incumbency to emerge victorious.

Imran Hussain: The AAP leader notched up a spirited victory from the Muslim-dominated Ballimaran, winning the seat by a heavy margin of 29,823 votes.

Exit polls: The pollsters finally managed to hit the mark after failing to accurately predict the Lok Sabha, Haryana and Maharashtra elections. Most pollsters predicted a BJP victory, with a poll of 15 polls predicting 37-43 seats for the party.

Losers

INDIA bloc: The INDIA bloc not only failed to stall BJP’s revival after the Lok Sabha elections but also missed the prime opportunity to capitalize on the saffron party’s rare vulnerability last year. With both AAP and Congress—key INDIA bloc members—failing to check the BJP’s advance in states like Haryana, Maharashtra, and now Delhi, questions loom over the alliance’s effectiveness.

Arvind Kejriwal: The fiery AAP leader had a whirlwind 2024. The whole jail to bail saga failed to turn the sympathy wave in his favour. Despite resigning as the chief minister, much later than he should have, Kejriwal couldn't muster up a pro-AAP wave in the capital. Not only did he lose the one region where AAP has been dominant since the beginning, Kejriwal couldn't even retain his bastion of New Delhi.

Manish Sisodia: Like Kejriwal, the No.2 of AAP also failed to make a mark this election. Out on bail, Sisodia held the fort for AAP for several months. AAP's gamble to move him from Patparganj to Jangpura also proved to be a miscalculation. He lost to BJP's Tarvinder Singh Marwah from the seat, albeit by a narrow margin of 675 votes.

Somnath Bharti: The former AAP minister failed to secure the Malviya Nagar, losing to BJP's Satish Upadhyay by 2,131 votes.

Ramesh Bidhuri: Another firebrand BJP leader, Bidhuri was once even a contendor for the CM post in Delhi. However, he failed to defeat Atishi from Kalkaji constituency and lost by a margin of 3,521 votes.

Saurabh Bharadwaj: Bharadwaj was another prominent AAP face who faced defeat in the election. He failed to retain the Greater Kailash constituency, losing to BJP's Shikha Roy by 3,188 votes.

Satyender Jain: Out on bail, Jain failed to retain his bastion of Shakur Basti this year. He lost to BJP's Karnail Singh by a huge margin of over 20,000 votes.