India's oldest party suffers worst set back in Delhi

Indian National Congress, the oldest political party in India, has lost its 'face' in the national capital following its poor performance in Delhi elections on Tuesday (11).

The grand-old party failed to get a single representative to Delhi assembly. Congress repeated its 2015 performance and was reduced to zero seats.

So much so that Congress candidates are likely to lose their poll deposits on 63 Delhi assembly seats.

Only three candidates-Devender Yadav in Badli, Abhishek Dutt in Kasturba Nagar and Arvinder Singh Lovely in Gandhi Nagar –may save their deposits, reports said.

A candidate is eligible to get his deposit back if he/she gets more than 1/6th of the total number of valid votes polled by all the candidates at the election.

Congress fares well in the recent local body elections and secured 22% vote share (which was far higher than AAP’s) in the 2019 general elections.

Indian National Congress was established in 1885, in Mumbai, to oppose the British.

Congress was in power in Delhi 22 years ago, when Sheila Dixit became the chief minister in 1998. The party had 52 seats out of a total of 70 seats.

After this, Congress again won in the 2003 Delhi Assembly Elections. In that election, the Congress had once again formed the government under the leadership of Sheila Dikshit, having won 47 seats.

The Congress came to power with a third consecutive victory under Sheila Dikshit in the 2008 elections. In this election, Congress got a total of 43 seats and received nearly 40 per cent of the vote.

The 2013 election caused a big upset for the party. The rise of the Aam Aadmi Party after the Commonwealth scandal and the Anna movement completely changed the equation of Delhi.

The results of the assembly were hung. BJP got 31 seats, AAP 28 and Congress only 8 seats.