Delhi Chief Minister Atishi resigned from her post on Sunday, February 9, 2025, following the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) significant electoral setback in the Delhi Assembly elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a resounding victory, winning 48 out of 70 seats, marking its return to power in the national capital after over 26 years. Atishi, who retained her Kalkaji constituency by defeating BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri by a margin of 3,521 votes, submitted her resignation to Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena, who subsequently dissolved the Seventh Legislative Assembly of Delhi.
Atishi had assumed the chief ministerial role in September 2024 after her predecessor, Arvind Kejriwal, stepped down amid corruption allegations linked to Delhi’s liquor policy. Her tenure, lasting nearly five months, concluded with AAP’s tally plummeting to 22 seats—a stark contrast to its 62-seat majority in the 2020 elections. The Congress party, meanwhile, failed to secure a single seat for the third consecutive election cycle.
The election results delivered a heavy blow to AAP’s leadership, with Kejriwal losing his New Delhi seat to BJP’s Parvesh Verma by a narrow margin of 1,200 votes. Other senior AAP leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, also faced defeat. Despite the party’s setbacks, Atishi vowed to continue AAP’s “fight against BJP’s authoritarianism,” calling the outcome a “temporary setback” rather than a defeat.
The BJP, buoyed by its historic mandate, is set to form the government next week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from an overseas visit. High-level discussions are underway to finalize the party’s choice for chief minister, with Parvesh Verma emerging as a frontrunner following his symbolic victory over Kejriwal. The transition marks a new chapter for Delhi, with the BJP pledging to prioritize development and governance reforms in the capital.
As the dust settles on a fiercely contested election, Atishi’s resignation underscores the shifting political landscape in Delhi, leaving AAP to grapple with internal challenges and the BJP to navigate the expectations of a decisive voter mandate.
