JOIN USAAP wave drowns BJP, Cong in Delhi
In a historic victory, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) roared back to power in Delhi on Tuesday, winning 67 of the 70 Assembly seats while sweeping aside the BJP and the Congress.
The BJP managed to win a mere three seats, while the Congress was completely wiped out.
Kejriwal met Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Tuesday evening and conveyed his intention to head the new government after being elected chief of the AAP Legislature Party.
Jung plans to send a report to the Centre on Wednesday, a day when Kejriwal is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
As fate would have it, Kejriwal will take oath as chief minister at Ramlila Maidan on February 14—the day he had resigned after a 49-day stint at the helm exactly a year ago.
Amid euphoric scenes at the party office in Patel Nagar here, Kejriwal thanked a sea of AAP workers saying that the massive mandate was a little “scary” as it brought with it a huge responsibility.
The AAP got 54.3 per cent vote share, the BJP got 32.2 per cent while the Congress managed only 9.7 per cent.
In the 2013 Assembly polls, the AAP had got 29.5 per cent vote share, the BJP managed 34 per cent and the Congress got 24.6 per cent.
In 2013, the AAP won 28 seats, the BJP got 31 seats, the Congress eight, while three seats were won by others.
“The Congress and the BJP have tasted the fruit of their ego. We have to guard against it and serve the people with folded hands so that Delhi is turned into a city that will make both the rich and poor proud,” said Kejriwal. The AAP leader, who trounced the BJP’s Nupur Sharma in New Delhi constituency by 31,583 votes, said the win shows if “your intentions are good then supernatural forces also support you”.
AAP leader Yogendra Yadav said the composition of Kejriwal’s Cabinet has not yet been discussed. Admitting that the landslide victory was much beyond their expectation, Delhi AAP convenor Ashutosh promised that Kejriwal would present a new kind of leadership. “You will see version 2.0 of the AAP,” he said.
In a message from Ralegan Siddhi village of Maharashtra, anti-corruption activist and Kejriwal’s mentor Anna Hazare congratulated him. “Hopefully, Arvind will not repeat the mistakes of the last tenure and keep things simple this time,” he said.
Hazare blamed the BJP’s defeat on Modi’s failure to deliver on promises to fight corruption and the anti-farmer land acquisition law. Hazare’s comments gave fuel to anti-Modi voices within the BJP. Modi was among the first ones to congratulate Kejriwal, and also invited the AAP leader to tea.
The BJP’s defeat came just nine months after the party won all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
Several BJP heavyweights suffered a humiliating defeat in the Assembly polls.
Chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi lost to AAP nominee S K Bagga in Krishna Nagar by 2,277 votes.
She wished Kejriwal good luck, and said, “I haven’t lost as an individual as I gave it my best.” There are strong speculations that Bedi could now be considered for a gubernatorial assignment here.
Meanwhile, the Congress failed to win even a single seat, prompting chief ministerial candidate Ajay Maken to resign from the post of AICC general secretary. Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely also put in his papers.