Sunday, 23 March 2025
Sunday, 23 March 2025
The Bharatiya Janata Party is poised to form a government in Delhi after more than 26 years, with the latest EC trends showing the BJP leading in 48 out of Delhi’s 70 seats, while AAP is ahead in 22.
The BJP has already won 38 out of 70 seats, according to the Election Commission, while the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP has won a total of 17 seats as of 4.00 pm.
AAP’s top leaders, including national convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Satyendar Jain, have lost their elections.
Kejriwal lost the high-profile New Delhi seat to BJP’s Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma by a margin of 4,089 votes. Former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia conceded defeat by 675 votes to BJP’s Tarvinder Singh Marwah in Jangpura.
Here’s what leaders said about BJP’s win and AAP’s defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls.
Omar Abdullah: Keep fighting against each other
Hinting at the conflict between the AAP and Congress, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah wrote on X: “Aur lado aapas mein!!! [Keep fighting against each other]”. He also shared a meme which has a sage saying - “Ji bharke lado, samapt kardo ek dusre ko [Fight with all your heart, end one another].
The Congress fielded former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s son Sandeep Dikshit against Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency. Dikshit polled 4,568 votes against Kejriwal while BJP's Parvesh Verma defeated the AAP national convenor with a margin of 4,089 votes.
Akhilesh Yadav: This is a false victory
The Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister branded the BJP’s win as “a false victory”. “This is a false victory, which the BJP will never be able to celebrate by looking into their own eyes in the mirror. Their guilt and fear of future defeat will keep them awake,” he wrote in Hindi.
“The officials who have committed electoral fraud will be punished for their democratic crime sooner or later. The truth will come out one by one,” he added.
Sagarika Ghose: Most leaders were jailed
TMC Rajya Sabha member Sagarika Ghose said the battle in Delhi was far from being fair for AAP.
“Jailing most leaders, @LtGovDelhi [Vinai Kumar Saxena] blocking every move, bureaucrats refusing to listen to government orders--how was it even a semblance of a level playing field?” asked Ghose on X.
She added: “Voters are the rulers in all democracies. When the voter speaks, we must listen. Those who have won must use power with responsibility and not betray the people’s trust. Those who have lost, should not lose heart, should never give up and instead go back to the drawing board. Jai Loktantra. Jai Samvidhan. Jai Hind,” she added.
Baijayant Panda: Kejriwal will blame EVMs soon
Baijayant Panda, national vice president of the BJP said that Kejriwal would soon “switch to blaming EVMs”.
“From yesterday AAPda's latest fakery was about their MLAs being poached, along with a side hustle of false claims about EC not updating forms. Wonder how long it'll be before they switch to blaming EVMs?” wrote Panda.
Before the polls, exuding faith in "Modi's guarantees," Panda told Frontline that Kejriwal was "a spent force".
K. T. Rama Rao: Congrats to Rahul Gandhi
Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K.T. Rama Rao credited it to Rahul Gandhi. “Congrats to Rahul Gandhi for winning the election for BJP, yet again! Well done,” he wrote on X.
After the 2024 Lok Sabha polls showed the AAP-Congress alliance in Delhi losing all seven seats, Kejriwal had declared that his party would not team up with Congress for the Delhi Assembly polls.
After the Congress lost the Haryana Assembly elections last year, Kejriwal had jabbed Rahul at a public address and said: “The biggest lesson of this is that one should never be overconfident in the elections.”
While other INDIA partners, such as Samajwadi Party and TMC rooted for the AAP in the Delhi polls campaign, Rahul Gandhi launched a blistering attack on Kejriwal before the elections, even joining the BJP to accuse Kejriwal of ‘sheesh mahal’ and saying that the “biggest liquor scam took place under Manish Sisodia and Kejriwal”.
Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma: Delhi has chosen development
The BJP fielded Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, the son of former Delhi chief minister [1996-98] Sahib Singh Verma against Kejriwal in the New Delhi seat. Verma polled 30,088 votes against Kejriwal's 25,999.
Following his victory, Parvesh wrote on X: “The darkness went away, the sun rose, the lotus bloomed. Delhi has chosen development.”
“This victory is of Delhi's faith. This victory is for the future of Delhi,” he added in Hindi.
Banking on the populist measures that his government introduced in Delhi in the last ten years, in his latest interview with Frontline, Arvind Kejriwal said that “people will vote for kaam ki rajneeti [politics of delivery]” and help the AAP retain power “with a comfortable majority”.
Pointing out the mohalla clinics, the extension of the Delhi Metro and 2,000 electric buses among other initiatives, the AAP national convenor had said: “The people of Delhi will vote for us because of these achievements and because they know we are committed to their welfare and progress”.
Following the results on Saturday, having congratulated the BJP, Kejriwal promised to stand by the Delhiites, saying his party considers politics a means through which the people are served.
