Accept mandate with humility: Rahul Gandhi after Congress’s Delhi debacle

www.mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, Feb 9, 2025: As the BJP scored a thumping victory in Delhi Assembly polls and the Congress scored zero seats, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the party accepts the mandate with humility. He thanked Congress workers and voters and said the Opposition party would continue to fight for the national capital’s progress and its residents’ rights.

"We accept Delhi’s public mandate with humility. I thank all Congress workers for their dedication and all voters for their support. Pollution, price rise and corruption - the fight for Delhi’s progress and Delhiites’ rights will continue," he said in a post on X.

While the BJP won 48 seats in the 70-member Assembly, the incumbent AAP finished at 22. The Congress achieved an unflattering hat-strick -- zero seats won in three elections in 2015, 2020 and 2025.

The AAP and the Congress had contested last year’s Lok Sabha election in an alliance, but failed to stop the BJP from sweeping all seven parliamentary seats in the national capital. Owing to local rivalries, the former allies could not reach an agreement for the capital contest.

The solo contests by the AAP and the Congress split the Opposition votes and in at least 11 votes, the Congress candidates got more votes than the BJP’s victory margin. This means that if the two parties had tied up, the results would have possibly been against the BJP. The Congress, however, has said it was not its responsibility to ensure AAP’s victory in the capital.

For the Congress, the debacle in Delhi is also a cause for worry because it comes right after it lost the Assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra despite scoring well in the Lok Sabha election last year.