India: How the BJP Ruined its Election Chances

The honeymoon period for India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, is over. The opposition Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP, delivered it one of the worst electoral defeats in BJP history in Delhi's Feb. 7 local elections, winning 67 of 70 seats. Many Indian political analysts interpreted the defeat as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP's stewardship of the economy. Though a BJP spokesperson labeled the results a "small loss, but a big lesson," the Delhi elections will likely mark the end of the popular momentum behind Modi and the BJP following its victory in May's national parliamentary elections. The BJP will likely acknowledge and try to fix the party's internal problems, but it will nonetheless face opposition in implementing large-scale economic reform to return India to sustained levels of growth.