What the Delhi verdict means for Narendra Modi
Delhi's election win reaffirms Modi's dominance, empowering him for policy initiatives and party control, despite setbacks in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The Delhi mandate sends a clear message to the Indian domestic political system as well as India’s external partners and adversaries: Don’t be misled by the 2024 Lok Sabha setback, Narendra Modi remains in-charge.
The results couldn’t have come at a better time for Modi. Both Maharashtra and Haryana had helped in re-establishing his dominance. But the fact that the BJP has won Delhi for the first time under his prime ministership, that it has finally been able to dislodge the Aam Aadmi Party, possibly the BJP’s only potential competitor for the urban middle class vote, and that it now has complete control over the national capital makes the verdict far more significant for Modi than the size of Delhi would suggest.
But it also comes at a particularly opportune time for Modi because it gives him (and Union home minister Amit Shah) a much higher degree of autonomy and control in taking the next steps.
Expect a possible cabinet reshuffle, for the insecurity after the 2024 verdict led to continuity and the confidence after recent wins may well lead to changes that Modi may have wanted to make in his third term. Expect both leaders to have the decisive say on who becomes the party president, and continue to exercise almost complete control over the nature and functioning the party and its relationship with the Sangh. And expect Modi to continue to engage with allies from a position of dominance but also respect to keep the bigger NDA ship stable.
The verdict may also give Modi the renewed confidence to push key political, policy and ideological projects that remain dear to him. These include the one nation one election plank that is already working its way through the parliamentary maze, an expansion of the uniform civil code in other BJP-ruled states, incentives to foreign and domestic capital in order to boost investment, and the continued nationalist remaking of India.