Arvind Kejriwal Bets Sheila Dikshit in Delhi.. AAP Got Great Success

Arvind Kejriwal Bets Sheila Dikshit in Delhi.. AAP Got Great Success

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that put up a spectacular show in the battle for the 70-member assembly that presides over the fortunes of the capital.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal has reason to hold on to that Gandhi cap. That cap and his party's aggressive campaign has seen his main votebank, the middle class, dust the Congress government of Sheila Dikshit out. Dikshit had won three terms as Congress chief minister from Delhi. Now, the Broom has cleaned the Hand - at least in Delhi.

As it became clear that the Congress has been relegated to the third position, it was the fight for the numero uno position between the BJP and AAP. At one time, it looked as though AAP would emerge as the single largest party before the BJP nosed ahead.

The most stunning defeat was of Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit who was trounced by 25,000 votes by AAP founder Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi constituency.

Conceding defeat, Ms. Dikshit submitted her resignation to Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, who dissolved the legislative assembly and forwarded her resignation to President Pranab Mukherjee.

“I would like to thank everyone for their support. We will analyse what went wrong later,” Ms. Dikshit told reporters outside her house while declining to take questions.

She also acknowledged that her party had failed to gauge the popularity of the AAP, saying the party had behaved “foolishly” in misjudging them.

A shaken Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son and party general secretary Rahul also expressed shock at the results.

“In Delhi, a great deal of work was done (by the government). But the results tell us something else. We will introspect and take steps to rectify it,” Ms. Sonia Gandhi said.

Mr. Kejriwal, who had claimed that he would defeat the three-time chief minister, got 44,269 votes, while Ms. Dikshit received 18,405 votes. BJP’s Vijendra Gupta stood at third position with 17,952 votes.

Result trends at 5 p.m., showed BJP was leading in 33 constituencies, the AAP was ahead in 27 seats and the Congress in 8. 

ne of the most exciting outcome among the five states that went to polls in November and December, the trends in the Delhi Assembly Elections has surprised many with the first time entrant into the electoral arena, the Aam Aamdi Party putting up a good show.

While the Congress was facing a huge anti-incumbency and had to face a tough fight from the BJP and Congress, the defeat of three-time Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has come as a huge blow for the ruling party.

As per the trends at 6:30 pm, the BJP had 32 seats, AAP 28, Congress 8 and others 2. The fate of 810 candidates for the 70-member Assembly will be decided today.

The counting for the largest turnout in Delhi - over 66 percent - began at 8 am. A total 11,993 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have been kept under high security in 14 counting centres across the city.