AAP sweeps Delhi for 2nd time; BJP gains, Congress 'decimated' again

NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party has registered another huge victory in Delhi in a fiercely-contested election in the national capital. This is the third consecutive win for the Aam Aadmi Party, which bagged 63 seats, losing only 4 from its 2015 tally of 67.
The AAP's stupendous victory comes nearly eight months after it suffered a severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls in which the party drew a blank while the BJP won all the seven seats.
"It is a victory of the people of Delhi who considered me their son ... Lord Hanuman has blessed us. May god give us more strength to serve people of Delhi," Kejriwal said in a short victory speech. He said the "politics of work" has taken birth in Delhi and the AAP's victory is of the entire country."
The BJP, which had mounted a very aggressive and high-pitched campaign led by its top leadership, has bettered its performance over the 2015 assembly elections, but could only manage to be a distant second with 7 seats. Accepting defeat, BJP chief J P Nadda said "party accepts mandate given by people of Delhi, will play role of constructive opposition. "
For the Congress, it was a huge disappointment yet again as it failed to open its account. In 2015 polls also, the Congress had drawn a blank. Party leader Sharmishta Mukherjee candidly summed up the defeat as she said "we have been decimated again".
"People's mandate is against us, we accept it. We have resolved to revive and rebuild the party," Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said at a press conference.

The results have largely vindicated the exit polls, which had predicted a comfortable victory for the AAP.
While the BJP did not win many seats, it managed to increase its vote share significantly by around 6 per cent to 38.5 per cent from 32.2 per cent in 2015. The BJP's gains came at the expense of the Congress, which has been the biggest loser in these elections. The vote share of Congress decreased by around 5 per cent from 9.7 per cent in 2015 to 4.25 per cent. The AAP marginally lost votes but managed to hold on to its 2015 share of around 54 per cent.
For the AAP, the victory today was not without moments of scare as two of its top leaders Manish Sisodia and Atishi faced a tough fight before emerging victorious.
Opposition leaders, from Mamata Banerjee to Chandrababu Naidu, were quick to congratulate Kejriwal for registering an impressive win against the BJP. Mamata, reacting to the verdict, warned the BJP of similar results in West Bengal assembly elections scheduled next year.
Prashant Kishor, whose organisation I-PAC managed AAP's poll campaign, said the national capital has stood up to "protect the soul of India". "Thank you Delhi for standing up to protect the soul of India!" he tweeted as trends indicated huge win for AAP.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who had contested the Delhi elections in alliance with the BJP and who faces assembly elections in the state later this year, reacted to the results with a guarded response "Janta malik hai".
The elections in the national capital took place in the midst of massive protests in the city and elsewhere over the new citizenship law, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register.
The BJP faced charges of carrying out a "divisive" campaign to polarise the voters by consistently highlighting the over 50-day demonstration by a group of women in Shaheen Bagh area. The AAP on the other hand focussed on its track record of governance.
Both parties ran a high-pitched campaign with several public meetings and roadshows daily. Arvind Kejriwal shouldered the responsibility of AAP’s campaign with Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and Punjab MP Bhagwant Mann pitching in. Kejriwal held over a dozen townhalls, taking his government’s report card to the public.
The BJP, which has not won in Delhi after 1993, showed its resolve to form a government this time with a high-decibel campaign which highlighted what it sees as a threat to national security.
BJP invoked major decisions taken by its government — amending the citizenship law, abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, and surgical strikes on Pakistan — to seek votes, besides highlighting what it claims to be AAP’s failure to ensure supply of clean water, installation of CCTV cameras and giving free Wi-Fi in Delhi.
The Congress campaign lacked the incisiveness of the two rival parties. In the last week of electioneering top Congress functionaries — Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Manmohan Singh and chief ministers of four states, among others — made an appeal to voters to bring back the party that governed Delhi for 15 years and built “world class” infrastructure. The party openly extended its support to anti-CAA protesters at Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia with an eye on Muslim voters.
In the 2015 assembly elections, Kejriwal's AAP got a record mandate winning 67 out of 70 seats. The BJP had won 3 seats while the Congress had failed to open its account. The AAP had polled over 54.3% votes in 2015 while the BJP got 32.2% and the Congress 9.7%.