Delhi presses button so hard that Shah-Modi, not Shaheen, feel the current

Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party scored a hat-trick on Tuesday, sweeping the Assembly election with 62 out of 70 seats in what the party said was a win for the “politics of work” over that of “hate”.

The third win in a row — after 2013 and 2015 — has re-ignited the national ambitions of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal who was greeted with cheers of “PM! PM!” by cadre when he addressed them from the terrace of the party office on Rouse Avenue.

“The people of Delhi have given birth to a new kind of politics in the country, what is called kaam ki rajneeti (the politics of work)…. Only this politics can take the country into the 21st century. This is not just a victory for Delhi, my friends, this is the victory of our Mother India, this is a victory for the whole country. Today is Tuesday, Hanumanji’s day. Hanumanji has been kind to Delhi today. Thanks to Hanumanji too,” Kejriwal said.

Before he had reached the party office, new banners had come up saying: “Rashtra nirman ke liye AAP se judein (For nation-building, join the AAP).”

AAP minister and convener of the party’s Delhi unit Gopal Rai said: “The message to the country is that the beginning of the end of those who practise the politics of hatred has begun from Delhi.… Prepare for battle in every state. The whole country needs change.”

AAP members, many of them vying for tickets in future elections from almost every state in the country — especially Punjab, Gujarat and Odisha — turned up, and a party source said many had been asked to move their luggage out of the party office to make space for journalists and others on Tuesday.

This is not just a victory for Delhi, my friends, this is the victory of our Mother India, this is a victory for the whole country. Today is Tuesday, Hanumanji’s day. Hanumanji has been kind to Delhi today. Thanks to Hanumanji too

Arvind Kejriwal at the AAP office in Delhi

Kejriwal had shelved his national ambitions after defeats in local polls here and Assembly contests elsewhere in 2017. Having burnt his fingers in 2014, when he contested against Narendra Modi, he was careful on Tuesday to stress he was first a “son of Delhi”.

The AAP led a successful campaign against the BJP, which had labelled Kejriwal a “terrorist”. The party lost only five seats from its 2015 tally and its vote share dipped by just 1 per cent.

The party focused in its campaign on its welfare schemes and social sector improvements. But pushed into a corner by the BJP’s campaign, Kejriwal drew a line on protests that cause public inconvenience — the Shaheen Bagh sit-in has blocked a road. He also tried to convince voters of his “Hindu-ness”, even reciting the Hanuman Chalisa on television.

Kejriwal retained his New Delhi seat for the third time, with a vote share of 61.1 per cent, almost double that of the runner-up, BJP youth leader Sunil Yadav.

AAP incumbent Sanjeev Jha had the highest victory margin of over 88,000 votes in north Delhi’s Burari. Shailendra Kumar from the Janata Dal United, a BJP ally, came second in the seat dominated by migrants from Bihar.

Incumbent AAP MLA and Delhi Wakf Board chairman Amanatullah Khan bagged the highest vote share — 66.09 per cent — in Okhla, a Muslim-majority neighbourhood where Shaheen Bagh is located.