The Aam Aadmi Party of Arvind Kejriwal is all set to form the government in the national capital for the third time in a row, scoring a jumbo win in the 70-member Delhi Assembly as the counting of votes of February 8 polls was taken up on Tuesday.
Mr Kejriwal will head the government and his party is comfortably placed by bagging 63 seats, leaving seven seats for its nearest political rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress could not open its electoral account for the second successive time.
Mr Kejriwal’s victory can be easily compared to the last one in 2015 when it swept the polls in Delhi by winning 67 seats and conceding only three seats to the BJP. The Congress had drawn a blank last time too. Though the BJP’s vote share increased to 40.1 per cent, AAP’s share was a whopping 53.8 per cent and the Congress at a dismal 4.4 per cent.
In his victory speech, Mr Kejriwal blew a kiss at his supporters at the AAP office. With a beaming smile, he said: “You are amazing I love you.  He thanked the people for giving a third chance to his party for governing the Capital city.
ÂI want to thank the families of Delhi who treated me as your son and voted for us, Mr Kejriwal said. He kept his remarks short and positive and did not make any reference to the barbs of the BJP against him.
The poll outcome in Delhi has given birth to a new kind of politics. “It is the politics of development. It is a message that Delhi will vote those who build schools, mohalla clinics, give cheap power, provide access to water and build roads This is a new kind of politics and holds an auspicious message for the country, he said in his victory speech. Neither he nor his senior party leaders, including Manish Sisodia and Raghav Chaddha, shied away from chants of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Matram.”
There were some anxious moments during the day as AAP raced to a record win with Mr Sisodia from Patparganj and Atishi Marlena from Kalkaji being locked in close contests.