'AAP Ki Dilli': Arvind Kejriwal Returns To Power With Landslide Victory

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesdsay returned to power in Delhi with a thumping majority by winning 62 of the 70 Assembly seats that went to polls on February 8. The Opposition BJP once again failed to touch double digit and win just eight seats. The Congress could not even open its account. Accoridng to the final Delhi Assembly election results released by the Election Commission, Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP bagged 62 seats with a voting percentage of 53.57, while the BJP got eight seats with a vote share of 38.51 per cent. The Congress drew a blank for the second successive Assembly elections in the national capital and its vote share shrunk to mere 4.26 per cent.

Following the landslide victory, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said that a new kind of politics has emerged from the Delhi Assembly polls with people rewarding the party which built schools, hospitals and provided cheap electricity round-the-clock. "Delhiites, you have done an amazing thing (Dilli walo aapne ne gazab kar diya). I love you," Kejriwal said in a brief address to joyous supporters and party workers at the AAP's headquarters in the national capital.

"It is a victory of all and every family who considered me their son and gave us a huge mandate. In the country today, Delhiites have given birth to a new kind of politics, which is called "Kam ki rajniti" (politics of works)," Kejriwal, who won the New Delhi Assembly seat by a margin of 21697 votes, said.

Delhi Didn't Reject Us, Says BJP's Manoj Tiwari

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday said the party will review why it failed to meet its own expectations in the Assembly polls and saw a moral victory in the fact that the party's vote share has increased since 2015.

"Delhi must have given mandate after careful thinking. Our vote percentage has increased from 32 per cent to around 38 per cent. Delhi did not reject us and the increase (in vote share) is a good sign for us," he told reporters in New Delhi.

Tiwari said the BJP hopes that there would be less blame game and more work in the national capital and congratulated Arvind Kejriwal on his party's victory in the polls.

63 Congress Candidates Lose Deposits

Congress' performance in the Delhi Assembly elections touched a record low with the party bagging less than 5 per cent votes and 63 of its candidates losing their deposits. The party, which ruled Delhi for 15 years on the trot under former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, failed to open its account for the second consecutive time in the Delhi Assembly elections.

Only three candidates - Arvinder Singh Lovely from Gandhi Nagar, Devender Yadav from Badli and Abhishek Dutt from Kasturba Nagar - could save their deposits. The Congress contested the polls this time in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, fighting on 66 seats and leaving four for its ally. The security deposit of a candidate is forfeited if he/she fails to secure one-sixth of the total valid votes cast in a constituency. Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra resigned from his post, taking moral responsibility for the party's debacle in the Assembly polls.

AAP MLAs To Meet At Arvind Kejriwal's Residence To Pick Legislature Party Leader

Meanwhile, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal has called a meeting of the party's newly-elected MLAs at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday. At the meeting scheduled to be held at 11.30 am, the MLAs will choose the AAP's Legislature Party leader.

According to AAP leaders, the party was considering two dates for the chief minister's oath-taking ceremony -- February 14 and 16. The Ramlila Maidan was being considered as the probable venue for the ceremony, he said, adding that a grand event was being planned.