After the commencement of the sixty-ninth amendment to the Constitution of India in 1991, Delhi was granted the status of a special union territory and officially its name was changed to the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). Even though Delhi is not one of the 28 states of India, it has its own Legislative Assembly, Lieutenant Governor, Council of Ministers and Chief Minister. The seats in Delhi's Legislative Assembly are filled by members chosen by direct elections from territorial constituencies in the NCT. However, Delhi is jointly administered by the State Government of Delhi and the Government of India. New Delhi, an urban area within the metropolis of Delhi, is the seat of both the State Government of Delhi and the Government of India.

Delhi has always been a stronghold of the Indian National Congress, locally known as the Congress Party. The trend started to change in the 1990s when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the leadership of Madan Lal Khurana came into power for the first time. However, in 1998 Sheila Dixit of the Congress Party defeated Madan Lal Khurana in state elections and has remained in power since then.