New Delhi:
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday shut its party office doors in Delhi shortly after a massive defeat in the assembly elections. Top party leaders including AAP chief and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia lost the election.
A video shows several people standing outside AAP’s party office which has a brown-coloured shutter in front of it. The party’s name and logo can be seen on a blue board and a black stone outside the office.
Mr Kejriwal lost his stronghold New Delhi seat to former two-time BJP MP Parvesh Verma. Mr Kejriwal finished around 1,200 votes behind his rival, with the Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit third. It comes as a huge loss for the AAP leader as he held the seat since 2013 when he beat Congress stalwart and then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Manish Sisodia, who is the senior-most leader of AAP after Mr Kejriwal, conceded defeat from the Jangpura seat. “Party workers fought well; we all did hard work. People have supported us as well. But, I lost by 600 votes. I congratulate the candidate who won. I hope he will work for the constituency,” he said.
Mr Sisodia was credited with the overhaul of Delhi’s government schools in the first term of the AAP government. However, during his second term, Mr Sisodia was arrested amid allegations of corruption in Delhi’s now-scrapped liquor policy. Shortly after his arrest in February 2023, Mr Sisodia resigned as deputy Chief Minister.
This election, the biggest challenge the AAP government faced was the Delhi liquor policy case.
While AAP failed to win the assembly election, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi managed to retain south Delhi’s Kalkaji seat. The 43-year-old leader, who won the seat in 2020, was up against BJP’s former MP Ramesh Bidhuri and the Congress’s Alka Lamba. According to the Election Commission, she has won with a margin of over 2,700 votes.
The BJP has emerged victorious in Delhi after nearly three decades. According to the latest trends, BJP is leading in 46 seats while the AAP is ahead in 24 seats. Congress is not leading in any seat.
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