By the time you read this, exit polls on television news channels will have answered the question they have asked for the last six weeks: Dilli kiski?
The margins of victory differ from poll to poll but they agree that the next government in the capital is a BJP one.
The counting of votes on 8 February will reveal the result of ‘Dilli ka Dangal’ (Aaj Tak) so let’s wait till then to pronounce judgement on the accuracy of the exit polls which, as we know, have had a chequered strike rate in recent elections.
From what we saw of the poll campaign on television and read in the newspapers, the verdict is based on the people’s concerns about their city, which the news media highlighted. Meanwhile, politicians spoke about freebies.
The news coverage of the election campaign captured ‘Dilli Ke Dil Mein Kya Hai’ (ABP News). And no, it wasn’t about ‘Sheesh Mahal’, the Delhi liquor excise policy that put several AAP leaders, including former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in jail – or indeed, Hindi-Muslim divisions, which usually roil election campaigns.
Yes, the people of Delhi are angry but it’s the overflowing garbage, blocked sewer lines, dirty drinking water, and potholed roads that are raising their blood pressure, not people who live in glass houses.
In one word, infrastructure. That’s the message that rang out loud and clear across news channels and was written about in the newspapers. A reporter on Mirror Now hit the spot when she said, “Delhi is the only place we report on problems—the open drains, sewage, garbage…’’
Election of ‘issues’
The alphabet war in the capital, which pitched A v/s B v/s C (AAP, BJP, Congress), saw reporters repeatedly ask people in different parts of the city, what were the “issues” in this election. Again and again, from Chandni Chowk to Dwarka and Rajouri Gardens, people spoke of the living conditions, good or bad.
“Kejriwal has done great work…the schools are better, but nothing on employment,” said one voter to Total TV. “Kejriwal is good for Delhi, you can see for yourself how much he has done,” said another man.
The voters on Zee News disagreed. “Useless,” said a woman resident of Mehrauli, “AAP has done nothing—they’ve become netas. Look at the market—the sewers are blocked, garbage everywhere.”
On TV9 Bharatvarsh, some voters remembered former Congress CM Sheila Dikshit, whose son Sandeep Dikshit is fighting Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency. “Nothing is being done, Sheila Dikshit did a lot.’’ The mood of voters against the ruling AAP is best reflected in one pithy quote by a woman voter on India TV: “I don’t like Kejriwal, BJP will win, I think. AAP’s emblem is a broom but they just bring in the dirt.’’
In Rajouri Gardens, we heard many people on different Hindi news channels. “City is in ruins”, “BJP will do better”, “Modi and Yogi will do,” said some to ABP News and Aaj Tak. “No clean gutters,” complained a woman to India TV, “at least BJP does something.’’
But in Kalkaji, the situation wasn’t so simple: people were still undecided between AAP and BJP – no mention of Congress except in the past tense. “We don’t know”, was a common reply on ABP News. “Sab chor hain (everyone is a thief)”. One voter said AAP had done good work, but was immediately challenged by another. “What work? The drains are blocked, there’s garbage here.”
To highlight her dismay with the poor conditions, a woman in Vishnu Garden showed ABP News the grey drinking water in a glass. In Chandni Chowk, we saw potholes filled with water, on India TV.
Channel after channel broadcast the same woes and the see-saw battle between AAP and BJP. You were left with a sense that people were looking for a change.
The news channels made all efforts to find out how people voted. On voting day, yesterday, TV reporters pestered voters to reveal their choices, to the point where it crossed the line of privacy.
“What are you thinking? What were the issues on your mind when you voted? Has anyone done anything for you? Do you want change or are things ok as they are?” asked the News 24 reporter in Dwarka.
“What did you keep in mind when voting?” an ABP News correspondent in Seelampur asked women. “Is everything good here? Kaise lag raha hai? (how are you feeling).’’
Also read: 12 hours after Maha Kumbh stampede, TV news back to ‘unshakeable faith, excellent arrangement’
Change of strategies
Communal politics was missing both in poll action and news media coverage. For once, we did not read or hear divisive speeches along religious lines—if there were some, the news media gave them little space.
The Times of India, in its analysis of the poll campaigns of the three main political contenders, AAP, BJP and Congress, noted this absence. “BJP’s campaign was consciously designed to avoid polarization; the strategy did not yield results for it in 2020 as it ended up getting just eight seats,” wrote TOI.
Analysis of the AAP campaign discovered that Kejriwal had also shifted focus. The Hindu noted that Kejriwal’s “politics of development” in 2020 had “completely gone missing from the party’s messaging” in 2025. Instead, the newspaper found that at campaign rallies during the end of January, Kejriwal issued an “ominous warning”— “Galat button mat dabana… Kamal ka button mat dabana.” Don’t press the wrong button, don’t vote for the lotus symbol party (BJP).
As for Congress, the media paid it less attention. “The Congress is clearly far behind in the narrative game in the capital, even though it too has promised a raft of sops like frontrunners AAP and BJP. Its campaign does not have the visibility of the others,’’ wrote The Indian Express.
Freebies in the fight
The advertising campaign of the main contenders was at odds with what the public said, in the media at least. People spoke of open, dirty drains, the political ads promised free guarantees.
When TV reporters asked voters about receiving subsidies, they acknowledged it but didn’t mention it otherwise—interesting, since BJP and Congress advertisements on TV and in newspapers talk about little else.
Example: In the ‘Congress Guarantees for Delhi’ print ad on 4 February, five yojanas are mentioned: money for women, free health, paid apprenticeships, free electricity, and ‘Mehngai Mukti Yojana’ with Rs 500 for gas cylinder and fee ration kit.
Similarly, read the ‘Vote for progress, Vote for BJP’ ads on 5 February – it has freebies too. ‘Phir layenge Kejriwal’ (we will bring back Kejriwal) song-slogan of AAP also describes ‘free’ gifts from the former CM.
By the way, no one promised free clean air – and the media didn’t press them for answers.
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)
The fault lies with the UPSC. it recruits only leftists. So the prospective candidates brainwash themselves with the communist propaganda newspaper amusingly named as ‘The Hindu’. UPSC certified people like Kejriwal end up as pedlars of socialist freebies rather then governing and developing infrastructure.
It is a different matter that all politicians are socialists, irrespective of their eduction.