AAP clean sweeps Delhi, Kejriwal to become CM again

Winning 67 seats out of the total 70, the AAP surpassed the figures that were projected by exit polls on Saturday when Delhi had voted to elect a new Assembly.

Starting another innings in his political career, Kejriwal, who had shocked Delhi by resigning as the Delhi Chief Minister last year Feb only after 49 days in power, will take oath on Saturday.

In 2012, Kejriwal had launched the Aam Aadmi Party and defeated Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in the 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election. Though he became a CM on Dec 28, 2013 with Congress support, he resigned 49 days later on Feb 14 2014 for apparently failing to pass the anti-corruption legislation- Jan Lokpal- since no party was ready to support him.

The fresh victory  gave the AAP a tremendous boast after it had performed poorly in the Lok Sabha polls last year with  Kejriwal losing from Varanasi where his opponent was none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kejriwal said he will end bribery, VIP culture and serve everyone, adding that when someone is on the path of truth, all forces help  that person.

"If you are on the path of truth, all forces will come together to support you. I thank you all. I am also scared that people reposed such faith in me," he told the crowd of cheering supporters in his first public .

"I will be people's chief minister and VIP culture," said Arvind Kerjiwal. "People have done something spectacular," he said.

He said his job will be to end bribery first.

Kejriwal won from the New Delhi constituency by beating BJP's Nupur Sharma by 31,583 votes.

A day when AAP returned to the political structure quite strongly, the other ruling party- the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- received a strong blow as it managed to win only three seats and even its Chief Ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi losing from the  Krishna Nagar seat.

The seat was considered to be a BJP stronghold.

The results signaled  a waning of the BJP's tide and the Narendra Modi fever that had swept the country last year during the Lok Sabha polls.

Modi spoke to Kejriwal and assured him of all his support.

"Spoke to @ArvindKejriwal & congratulated him on the win. Assured him Centre's complete support in the development of Delhi," Modi tweeted.

Reports said Kejriwal and Modi might have a meeting soon over tea.

Meanwhile, Bedi has apologised to 'karayakartas' after failing to perform well in the Delhi Assembly poll which was completely dominated by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

"Wish to thank my party leadership for having trusted me fully and apologize to every karayakarta for not living up to their expectations,"Bedi tweeted.

"The loss of my party including mine will be duly assessed and reflected upon.I lose only when I do not give my 100% to d cause. I gave it all. My party & we will reflect on the causes of defeat! Best wishes for Delhi," she said.

She also asked the BJP to 'introspect' into the defeat.

The Delhi polls also showed the complete drubbing of the Congress which failed to even win a single seat in the national capital.

Congress leader Ajay Maken has decided to quit as the party's general secretary following a poor show in the Delhi Assembly.

Maken was thrashed by by AAP's Som Dutt by 51,170 votes in Sadar Bazar.

Maken said: "I take responsibility for the result we saw today. I have decided to resign as the  general secretary of the party."

With AAP posting a record mandate in Delhi where it had first signaled its arrival in the political scenario by registering a strong performance in the same elections in 2013, Kejriwal got support from top political leaders across the nation including his former team leader Anna Hazare.

"I congratulate Arvind Kejriwal. Previously,he was associated with me in a movement and people still believe that he will fight for them,"
Anna told reporters.

He asked Kejriwal not to commit the mistakes he had done during his first stint as the Chief Minister of Delhi.

"Don't commit the mistakes," Anna  told Kejriwal.

He asked his former team member to not forget the path of 'movement'.

Attacking Modi, Anna said: "He did not fulfill the promises he had made before the polls."

Congratulating Kejriwal, who is all set to take oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi for the second time,  West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee tweeted: "My hearty congratulations to AAP for sweeping Delhi Elections. All the best @ArvindKejriwal the new CM."

Banerjee said the results showed that political vendetta has no place in a democracy.

"Delhi elex [election] is turning point of present political situation. Shows political vendetta has no place in a democracy. Country needed this change," she said.

Banerjee said: "This is a victory for the people and a big defeat for the arrogant and those who are doing political vendetta & spreading hate among people."

The TMC supremo posted: "My congratulations to all the Delhi voters, AAP workers and leaders for big victory. Well done to you. All my best wishes. We are very happy."

Former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar also congratulated Kejriwal and attacked the BJP as he said people of the nation never accept 'arrogance'.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad spoke to Kejriwal and tweeted: "Just spoke to @ArvindKejriwal to congratulate him..BJP's arrogance defeated fantastically."

Ex- Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: "Wow, well done #Delhi & well done @AamAadmiParty. Good luck to @ArvindKejriwal for the next 5 years."