AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Somanath Bharathi face defeat; CM Atishi wins from Kalkaji

New Delhi: Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) faced its biggest defeat in the recently held Delhi Assembly Polls with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making a strong comeback to stamp its authority in the Delhi Legislative Assembly after a gap of 27 years.

The last time, BJP was at the helm of affairs was from 1993 to 1998 when Madan Lal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma and Sushma Swaraj served as the CMs.

As the counting of votes began this morning, BJP continued to dominate since the beginning and was leading in 48 out of the 70 Assembly segments while the ruling AAP was leading in 22 seats, according to the Election Commission of India website.

Meanwhile, the Congress party hit a historic low for the third consecutive time failing to even win a single seat in Delhi which it used to dominate. The biggest shock for AAP came with the  defeat of its supreme leader Arvind Kejriwal against BJP’s Parvesh Verma from the New Delhi Assembly Constituency by a margin of 3,182 votes.

Other top AAP leaders including former Dy.CM Manish Sisodia and Somanath Bharathi also faced defeats from the respective Assembly segments.

Among the top brass, CM Atishi Marlena was the only saving face as she won from Kalkaji Assembly Segment against BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders and workers hit the main streets in Delhi to celebrate the party’s victory. They were seen distributing sweets among themselves and dancing to the drumbeats. Celebrations were also held in the BJP State Headquarters in Bengaluru and BJP Office in Mysuru and other parts of the State as well.

PM Modi to address party workers: According to sources, PM Modi will be addressing the BJP workers from the party head office located on Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Marg at 8 pm today. He is expected to reach the party headquarters at 7.45 pm.

Anna Hazare slams Kejriwal: Veteran social activist Anna Hazare reacted to the ongoing Delhi Assembly Election results, saying that the AAP is facing electoral losses due to its leadership’s tainted image and involvement in controversies related to liquor and money.

Speaking to media persons, Anna Hazare remarked, “I have been saying for a long time that while contesting elections, the candidate must have character, good ideas and an unblemished image. But they (AAP) didn’t maintain that. They got tangled in liquor and money — his (Arvind Kejriwal’s) image was dented because of it, and that’s why they are getting fewer votes in the election.”