New Delhi, Feb 8 (PTI) The BJP on Saturday returned to power in Delhi after more than 26 years to sweep away the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party with a two-thirds majority on the back of a hyper localised campaign and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'AAP-da'(disaster) blitzkrieg.

Adding to the ignominy of the AAP that was battling 10 years of anti-incumbency was the shocking defeat of former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal himself and other top leaders including his close aide and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Somnath Bharti and Saurabh Bhardwaj. Chief Minister Atishi, an academic and unlikely politician, weathered the storm to retain Kalkaji seat.

The BJP won 48 of the 70 seats at stake and the AAP was way behind with 22, according to the Election Commission website. The elections were largely seen as a bipolar contest between the AAP, which made a determined bid for a fourth term, and the BJP. While the AAP had 62 members in the outgoing house, the saffron party had just eight legislators.

The Congress, which had ruled for 15 consecutive years under Sheila Dikshit from 1998, came a cropper in the Assembly elections failing to get even a single seat for the third straight time. Its candidates suffered crushing defeats with a majority of them even losing their deposits With Delhi now in its kitty after a battle of prestige given its symbolic importance as the country's capital, the BJP has extended its footprint, the victories helping it put behind some of the reverses of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections where it bagged 240 seats, short of the 272 majority mark.

Hailing the BJP's victory as "historic", Prime Minister Modi said people of Delhi have shown the door to 'AAP-da' and now a 'double-engine' government will ensure development at a double speed.

Modi, whose popularity among voters has been reinforced after the Delhi win, said Delhiites are celebrating BJP's victory and respite from 'AAP-da', the Hindi term meaning disaster that he used throughout the campaign to criticise the AAP's 10-year rule.

"People of Delhi today have enthusiasm and satisfaction. There is relief of liberating Delhi from 'AAP-da'. I thank all Delhiites for entrusting their faith in 'Modi ki guarantee'," Modi said in his address from BJP headquarters in the evening.

He launched a stinging attack on the AAP and the Congress, saying the country needs a serious political transformation and not politics of "dhoort-ta (deceit) and moorkhta (foolishness)".

He said people of Delhi have short-circuited the politics of short-cuts and asserted that the mandate has made it clear that there's no space for corruption and lies in politics.

Earlier in the day, Modi said that development and good governance have won.

“Development, good governance have won; we will leave no stone unturned for Delhi's all-round development,” Modi said on the splendid showing by the BJP that came just months after the saffron party's wins in Haryana as well as Maharashtra where it is part of the Mahayuti alliance.

Coming days after the Union budget which gave crucial tax concessions to the middle class, the BJP’s winning Lok Sabha streak in Delhi continues after it won all seven seats last year. But the premise this time was different.

Ground level issues such as water, drainage and garbage went up against volatile campaigns by both parties with voters grimly evaluating their quality of life in a polluted city.

The BJP also pushed ahead and made ‘sheesh mahal’ an oft recalled buzzword for the lavish chief minister’s residence following the renovations by Kejriwal and allegations of corruption in the Delhi excise policy. It clearly hit home.

While Modi and other party leaders repeated the need for a 'double engine' government, freebies offered by the AAP were countered by "Modi's guarantee," which appeared to find favour with voters.

The people of Delhi have dismantled the 'sheesh mahal' of lies, deceit and corruption and made the city "AAP-da free", said Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The AAP, which saw its leaders Kejriwal and Sisodia jailed in the excise policy case, countered the BJP campaign with vigour to say Yamuna waters were poisoned and that it was just not being allowed to govern because every move was being stymied by the lieutenant governor. It didn’t find the resonance it had hoped for.

“We fought a good election… We will play role of constructive opposition but will also be available to people of Delhi,” Kejriwal said as he conceded defeat in an election he had hoped would propel him as a national leader.

For the AAP national convenor, the face of the party launched on an anti-corruption plank in 2012, it was a tantalising seesaw ending in despair. He lost by 4,089 votes to BJP’s Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, son of former Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Verma.

“Who will be chief minister will be decided by the central leadership,” said Verma, dubbed giant killer for defeating Kejriwal in New Delhi constituency.The BJP had not projected a CM face in the poll campaign.

As one more line was added to the Congress’ epitaph, the AAP struggled with its own existential crisis. A loss in Delhi, which it ruled for 10 successive years from 2015, signals an end to its national ambitions with now only Punjab in its pocket.

Chief Minister Atishi, who took over after Kejriwal stepped down last year when he was jailed, won by 3,521 votes against BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri.

“I have won my seat but this is not a time for celebration -- this is the time to fight. The battle against BJP's authoritarianism will continue,” she said.

It was a dramatic downslide for the AAP, which won 67 of the 70 seats in 2015 when it established its dominance by wiping out both the Congress and the BJP and 62 in 2020. The promise of mohalla clinics, model schools, free water and electricity seemed to have lost their sheen.

At BJP offices, there were drumbeats of victory and euphoria, party workers waving flags, holding lotus cutouts, dancing and smearing colours of celebration on each other. And Modi was the mantra.

The Congress headquarters wore a desolate look and workers at the AAP office shell-shocked, their leaders huddled in conference as they pondered the future.

The BJP ruled Delhi between 1993 and 1998 when the party had three chief ministers--Madan Lal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma and Sushma Swaraj.

The BJP's vote share has steadily grown from over 32 per cent in 2015 to 38.5 per cent in 2020 against the AAP's over 54 per cent and 53.5 per cent respectively. This time the BJP's share jumped to 45.56 per cent, while the AAP's fell to 43.57 per cent.

And as political analysts debated the future of the opposition INDIA bloc and the benefits of joining hands to combat a resurgent BJP, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, an ally of the alliance, said in a caustic post on X, "Aur lado aapas mein!!! (Keep on fighting each other)." In the run up to the Delhi elections, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) went all out to persuade voters elect an “effective and accountable” government for the progress of the national capital, contributing to the BJP’s thumping victory.

RSS volunteers carried out a silent voter awareness campaign and held “thousands of drawing room meetings” across Delhi to discuss “pressing” public issues like lack of required cleanliness, potable water supply, inadequate healthcare services, air pollution and cleaning of Yamuna river, according to sources.

Union ministers, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, and NDA partners showered praise on Modi's leadership and Home Minister Shah's strategies for BJP's victory.

"BJP's landslide victory in Delhi is a victory of faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the policies of the BJP," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.

The AAP came to power in Delhi for the first time in 2013 on the back of the promise to sweep away corruption. But its minority government propped up by Congress lasted only 49 days after Kejriwal resigned following which Delhi came under a spell of President's rule. PTI BUN NSM MHS VIT PK SKC KR BJ ASK SKU MIN GSN GSN GSN