Headlines
AAP tsunami routs BJP, Congress in Delhi; Hazare says it's Modi's defeat
New Delhi, Feb 10
In one of the most stunning
comebacks in Indian political history, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of
Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday scored a landslide win in Delhi, delivering to
the BJP its first electoral defeat since its historic Lok Sabha triumph
and reducing the Congress, that had ruled the capital for 15 years till
2013, to a virtual nonentity.
As thousands of AAP activists
broke into celebrations all over the capital, election officials
counting the votes polled Saturday said the party was tipped to end up
with a staggering 65 of the 70 assembly seats -- the highest victory
margin for any party in Delhi so far.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, who had led an aggressive campaign against Kejriwal and had called
him an "anarchist" and had even compared his ideology to that of Maoist
extremists, congratulated the AAP leader as it became clear that the
BJP was headed for a humiliating rout, winning at best just four seats.
Modi promised the central government's full cooperation to the AAP
government, which is expected to take oath at the Ramlila Maidan Sunday
-- exactly a year after Kejriwal quit after ruling the capital for 49
tumultuous days.
An emotional Kejriwal, 46, who founded the AAP
only in 2012, became teary eyed as his colleagues repeatedly hugged him
and lifted him in the air at his house at Kaushambi in Ghazibad
bordering Delhi. Outside, activists kept a steady chant of "Paanch Saal,
Kejriwal!"
Kejriwal later reached the AAP office in central
Delhi where he told thousands of boisterous supporters waving party
flags and brooms -- the AAP election symbol -- that the AAP sweep was "a
victory for truth and honesty".
There were traffic jams in many parts of Delhi as AAP supporters, a majority of them young people, celebrated on the streets.
The
Congress suffered an unprecedented washout, with all its 70 candidates
losing. Its chief ministerial aspirant, Ajay Maken, resigned as general
secretary.
So massive was the AAP sweep that even BJP veterans, including some household names in Delhi, were on the losing track.
The
party's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi, who was personally
picked by Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to lead the party's charge --
a move that created deep fissures within the party -- was struggling to
win.
"This is incredible. We can't believe it," AAP leader and
former Delhi minister Manish Sisodia told IANS. Senior AAP leader
Yogendra Yadav called it a victory of proverbial David over Goliath.
Other party leader cautioned AAP members not to go overboard.
As expected, the AAP win created ripples across the country.
In
remarks clearly aimed at Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee, who had asked people in Delhi to vote for the AAP, said it was
a "big defeat for the arrogant"
"This is a victory for the
people and a big defeat for the arrogant and those who are doing
political vendetta and spreading hate... The election is a turning
point... The country needed this change."
Gandhian Anna Hazare
added: "The result is a defeat for Narendra Modi. What did the BJP do in
the past nine months? The BJP made promises to tackle corruption.
Instead they took anti-people, anti-farmer decisions. They lost public
confidence."
Hazare, who mentored Kejriwal when he launched an
anti-corruption campaign here in 2011 that shook India, urged the AAP
leader not to repeat the mistakes he committed during his earlier stunt
as chief minister.
In Kerala, former chief minister V.S.
Achuthanandan called the vote for AAP a blow to "Modi's arrogance".
Former Bihar chief minister and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar echoed him. The
CPI-M hailed the people of Delhi for "decisively rejecting the BJP".
One
after another, BJP leaders accepted defeat and congratulated the AAP
and Kejriwal. "As the party's Delhi leader, I accept moral
responsibility for the defeat," said Satish Upadhyay. "Clearly, we made a
mistake in understanding the people's mood."
Election officials
said the AAP was poised to grab as many as 65 of the 70 seats, leaving
just four to the BJP. Even lesser known AAP activists won easily. AAP
leaders who had joined the BJP just before the polls were also routed.
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) was set to win one seat.
"Kejriwal
is teary eyed," AAP leader Pankaj Gupta told IANS. "None of us could
sleep properly last night because we were tense. Now, we just cannot
believe these unbelievable results."
The AAP is set to bag an
incredible 54 percent of all votes, officials said. The AAP swept all
across the capital, including both in the middle class areas and low
income neighbourhoods.
Kejriwal hiself was headed for victory in
New Delhi constituency, where he created history in 2013 by defeating
three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
Senior AAP leaders,
including Somnath Bharti, Manish Sisodia and Rakhi Birla, who were
ministers in the earlier Kejriwal government, were also poised to win.
Earlier, Kejriwal tweeted: "All the very best Delhiites. Do pray. Prayers are very powerful."