The elections in
India in 2015 include the two
state legislative assembly elections. The tenures of the state legislative assembly of
Bihar were due to expire during the year, and the Delhi Legislative Assembly re-election would also be held due to the inability to form the
government.[1]
In the
2013 Delhi state elections, the
Bharatiya Janata Party (along with its pre-poll ally
Shiromani Akali Dal) emerged as the single-largest party, winning 32 out of the 70 seats. However they fell short of an outright majority and therefore were unable to form the government. This led the then
Lieutenant Governor of DelhiNajeeb Jung to invite the
Aam Aadmi Party, the second largest party after the BJP, to form the government.[4] On 28 December 2013, AAP formed the state government after taking outside support from the
Indian National Congress.[5] AAP's leader
Arvind Kejriwal, who defeated the incumbent chief minister
Sheila Dikshit, became the 7th chief minister of Delhi. However, on 14 February 2014 (after 49 days of rule), Arvind Kejriwal resigned from his post citing the reason as his government's inability to table the
Jan Lokpal Bill in Delhi Assembly for discussion due to stiff opposition from other political parties in the house.
Delhi remained thereafter under President's Rule for about a year. On 4 November 2014, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi
Najeeb Jung recommended the
Union Cabinet the dissolution of Delhi assembly and conduct fresh elections.[6][7] On 12 January 2015, the
Election Commission of India announced that state assembly elections would be held on 7 February 2015 with results being announced on 10 February 2015.[8]