ISLAMABAD – The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not fare well inits first ever key test after passing the controversial and contentiouscitizenship law on Tuesday, as it suffered a defeat in key polls held inNew Delhi.
Aam Aadmi Party supporters cavorted to bhangra music and set off fireworksas the vote count showed they had crossed the 36 seats needed to secure amajority in the 70-seat regional assembly.
Hindu-nationalist Modi, whose party swept to power in national electionslast year, congratulated AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, the incumbent Delhichief minister.
“Wishing them the very best in fulfilling the aspirations of the people ofDelhi,” Modi tweeted.
The BJP had launched an aggressive campaign to win the city of nearly 20million people from the AAP, using the election to rally support for thelaw easing citizenship rules for religious minorities from Bangladesh,Pakistan and Afghanistan, but excluding Muslims.
At least 25 people have been killed in protests over the legislation so far.
But the AAP, which swept to power in 2015 after it was launched three yearsearlier by former tax officer Kejriwal, retained control in an impressiveshowing.
The defeat in Delhi is the latest in a string of setbacks for the BJP atregional elections over the past two years.
Kejriwal, 51, fought the election on local issues such as subsidised waterand electricity, as well as the safety of women.
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“This win has given birth to a new type of politics — the politics ofwork,” he told cheering supporters at party headquarters.
“This is the type of politics that will take the country forward in the21st century.”
Yogendra Yadav, an academic who was a member of the AAP executive until2015 and now has his own party, said the result was a clear rejection ofModi and his party´s angry campaign.
“The BJP indulged in one of the most vitriolic, communal hate mongeringcampaigns as a desperate electoral gamble,” he told AFP.
“If this succeeded, it would have become a template for everyone else tofollow.
Congress, led by the storied Gandhi-Nehru dynasty and the main oppositionat the national level, was set to draw a blank in another low for a partythat ruled Delhi for 15 years before AAP took over.
Final results from the Election Commission of India were not expected untillate Tuesday. -APP/AFP
