BJP’s last CM in Delhi |Revisiting late Sushma Swaraj’s 52-day reign in national capital 27 years ago

The BJP is poised to form the Delhi government after 27 years as counting of votes remained underway on Saturday. Data from the election Commission showed the party leading on 46 seats at noon while the AAP was likely to secure 24 constituencies. The saffron party last held power in the national capital in 1998, when Sushma Swaraj was the Chief Minister.

The former Foreign Minister of India served as the Delhi CM for a short tenure of 52 days — the first woman to hold the post. Delhi saw three consecutive CMs from the saffron party between 1993 and 1998 amid infighting, soaring onion prices and public backlash. Swaraj took over the reins in October 1998 as the BJP made a last-ditch attempt to salvage the situation before elections took place in Delhi.

Who is Sushma Swaraj?

The late leader — once dubbed the ‘best-loved politician’ of India by foreign publications — began her political career as the youngest cabinet minister of Haryana at the age of 25 in 1977. She was elected to the Parliament seven times and served thrice as an MLA. She became the first woman (after Indira Gandhi) to hold the Ministry of External Affairs.

Swaraj opted out of the second Narendra Modi government as she was recovering from a kidney transplant in 2019. The illustrious politician passed away in August that year after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Chief Minister of Delhi

Swaraj served as the CM for 52 days in 1998 — between October 12 and December 3. Her Cabinet also included Harsh Vardhan, Jagdish Mukhi, Purnima Sethi, Devender Singh Shokeen, Harsharan Singh Balli and Surendra Pal Ratawal.

What happened between 1993 and 1998?

The first election of Delhi legislative assembly was held in November 1993. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with forty nine seats and formed the government, headed by Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana.

Khurana had to quit as Chief Minister after twenty seven months following charges of corruption after his name appeared in the Jain Hawala Scam. He was replaced by Sahib Singh as Chief Minister. Verma served for more than 31 months. But the BJP led government under Sahib Singh Verma faced scathing criticism due to its inability to curb the price rise of onions. The party was also unable to address the demand for a fare revision by auto rickshaw drivers. Complaints about electricity shortage, especially in unauthorised colonies, mounted.

The BJP replaced Sahib Singh with a woman--Sushma Swaraj took over as CM on October 12, 1998. She held the post for 52 days before Assembly elections. Swaraj had to grapple with several issues, and in her brief stint, she struggled to control inflation. But her tenure was too short to make any significant impact on BJP's prospects.

The Second Legislative Assembly elections of Delhi were held on November 25, 1998. The Congress emerged as the single largest party with 52 seats and 47.7% vote share. It formed the government headed by Sheila Dikshit as Chief Minister, who was CM for two more terms.

What happened in 1998? Onion crisis and…

Unseasonal rains impacted onion production in early 1998 — causing prices to rise sharply and prompting a brief export ban. The rabi crop was also affected by a heatwave in the subsequent months — with prices climbing higher. Prices rose from around ₹9-12 per kg in December 1997 to around ₹28 per kg by August 1998.

The Central government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, however, refused to intervene until unseasonal rains also delayed the kharif harvest and prompted plans for import as prices continued to increase. The Central government eventually allowed imports under an Open General License as onion prices breached the ₹50-mark. Meanwhile, international prices continued to rise in anticipation of increased demand from India.