India, Feb. 8 -- New Delhi At a time when the Capital is once again transformed into an electoral battlefield, politicians who witnessed the city's first modern-format assembly elections in 1993 recall how the foundation for today's political landscape was laid.

To be sure, the 1993 legislative assembly was not the first ever in Delhi. The first democratic elections in the city were held in 1952, shortly after the adoption of the Constitution, which led to Chaudhary Brahm Prakash becoming the first chief minister.

But after the Capital was designated a Union territory (UT) under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, its legislative assembly was abolished. Nearly four decades later, the 69th Amendment to the Constitution restored an elect...