The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) victory was as resounding as it was symbolic. After an absence of 27 years, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party has succeeded in regaining power in New Delhi. "Development wins, good governance triumphs," the prime minister said enthusiastically on Saturday, February 8.

Hindu nationalists won 48 of 70 seats in local elections held on Wednesday, February 5, in the capital and its region. The Ordinary Man Party (AAP), which had ruled this territory for a decade, retained 22 seats, while the longstanding Congress Party, largely in decline, was wiped off the map. For the AAP, the defeat was all the more humiliating as its leader, Arvind Kejriwal, failed to save his own seat.

The Ordinary Man's Party, born out of an anti-corruption movement in 2012, had won the two previous local elections hands down, withstanding the steamroller of the BJP, regarded as an election-winning machine. The anti-corruption group was particularly popular with the poorer classes, notably because it guaranteed them free access to water and electricity.

This time, to win over the underprivileged, the BJP promised not to cut any of these free programs. Better still, it has assured them of a host of additional direct benefits. Some 2,500 rupees (€27) a month for the poorest women, an allowance of 21,000 rupees (€230) for pregnant women, 15,000 rupees (€165) for young people preparing for competitive exams and a pension of 2,500 rupees for the elderly.

Concessions to the middle class

Modi's party has tapped into a sense of disgruntlement among the middle class. "In Delhi, the middle class seems to have bought the argument that 'freebies' were doled [out] to the poor at their expense," said Neerja Chowdhury, a veteran political scientist, in her column published by the Indian Express. And a few days before the polls, Modi's government announced a whole range of concessions to the middle class nationwide, including massive tax cuts.

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