Delhi At A Glance BJP Seat Share Vote Share Total Seats: 70 AAP BJP 48 AAP 22 BJP+ 47% 09 FEBRUARY 2025 www.thestatesman.com AAP 43.5% INC 6.3% WILD CELEBRATIONS ERUPT AT DELHI BJP OFFICE P-3 Others Twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd Facebook.com/thestatesman 3.5% SINCE 1818 PAGES 12 |` 5.00 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER MAINLY CLEAR SKY. SMOG/MIST LIKELY IN THE MORNING. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 26 AND 10 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. TEMPERATURE Max: 26.1˚C (+2.8) SUN RISES 07:03 hrs MOON RISES 14:42 hrs BJP returns to power after 27 years; Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia and many top AAP leaders lose in their own bastions ASHOK TUTEJA RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 76% Modi wave sweeps AAP away NEW DELHI, 8 FEBRUARY Min. 25% Min: 09.8˚C (+0.4) SUN SETS 18:07 hrs MOON SETS 05:35 hrs THUMBNAILS Folk artists perform in a cultural procession during the 94th Annual Conference of Srimanta Shankardev Sangha at Eraltoli Pathar, Mohbandha, in Jorhat on Saturday. ANI BJP wrests Milkipur assembly seat from SP after eight years: The ruling BJP has wrested the prestigious Milkipur (Reserved) assembly seat in Ayodhya in the bypolls as its candidate Chandrabhan Paswan defeated his nearest SP candidate Ajeet Prasad by a record margin of 61,710 votes in a direct contest. The BJP candidate polled 1,46,397 votes against SP's 84,687 votes. The third contendor for the seat, Azad Samaj Party candidate, managed only 5,459 votes. BSP opted out of the contest while Cong had supported the SP candidate. (P4) D elhi has given its verdict for a 'double-engine government'. The BJP, cashing in on the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday dislodged the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from power in Delhi, thus staging a remarkable comeback in the national capital after being in political exile for 27 years. Such was the discontent against the ten-year uninterrupted rule of the AAP that its supremo Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and many of its top leaders lost in their own bastions, putting a big question mark over the future of the party which had caught the people’s imagination after its formation in November 2012 following a massive anti-corruption movement. The BJP's huge win in the national capital is a shot in the arm for PM Modi too, coming as it does after the saffron party's victories in Haryana and Maharashtra. The Modi magic, which appeared to be waning, after the Lok Sabha elections in May-June last year when the BJP failed to get majority on its own, has again worked wonders for the saffron party. That the BJP is fully dependent on ''Modi ki Guarantee'' was quite visible in the Delhi elections with the party not naming its chief ministerial candidate and projecting only the PM as its face. This made the electoral battle virtually a straight contest between PM Modi and Kejriwal. The race, therefore, has clearly turned out to be a one-sided affair in favour of the BJP. The PM addressed a series of rallies in the national capital, dubbing AAP as AAP-da (disaster) and slamming it for ten years of ''misgovernance''. Top BJP lead- ers, including President J P Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah, went all out against the AAP over the corruption issue, since Kejriwal had launched his party with the avowed commitment of providing a clean and honest government. The outcome of the elections clearly suggests that there was a strong undercurrent against the AAP even in some of the JJ clusters in the national capital due to its failure to deliver on its promises like providing clean water, checking air pollution and cleaning Yamuna. Also, the liquor policy scam and the 'Sheesh Mahal' of Kejriwal on which INDIA bloc leaders blame rift between Cong & AAP for Delhi election debacle PARWINDER SANDHU NEW DELHI, 8 FEBRUARY Leaders from across the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) coalition have pointed to the disunity between Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a key factor that contributed to the BJP’s victory in the Delhi Assembly elections. Several opposition figures believe that if Congress and AAP had formed an alliance, the outcome of the polls might have been different. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut was one of the first to voice this criticism, arguing that early trends in the election showed a tight contest. “Had Congress and AAP come together, the BJP’s defeat would have been assured within the first hour of counting,” Raut stated. He emphasised that both Congress and AAP shared a common goal of preventing BJP from coming to power, but by fighting separately, they weakened their chances. “If they had united, BJP’s defeat would have been a certainty,” he said. CPI leader D Raja also weighed in, blaming Congress for the fractured opposition in Delhi. He stated, “It is because of disunity among secular democratic parties, especially Congress, that the INDIA alliance has faltered. Congress needs to seriously introspect on how to strengthen the alliance in the future.” Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah added his voice to the criticism with a pointed remark on social media. “Aur lado aapas mein!!!” ("Fight amongst yourselves some more!!!") he wrote on X, taking a jibe at the internal conflicts between Congress and AAP. More criticism came from the Marxist camp, where senior CPI(M) leader T.P. Ramakrishnan alleged that Congress' failure to support the INDIA alliance allowed the BJP to gain an advantage. “If Congress had taken the initiative, the alliance could have functioned more effectively. But they didn’t fulfill their responsibility,” Ramakrishnan said. He argued that Congress' lack of cooperation helped BJP in the Delhi elections. Veteran IUML leader P.K. Kunhalikutty also joined the chorus, stating that BJP's victory could have been avoided had the INDIA alliance remained united. "BJP survives by exploiting differences among secular parties," he said, calling for the alliance to evaluate its approach to prevent such disunity in the future. Meanwhile, Congress’ Jairam Ramesh reacted by attributing the election results to the failings of Arvind Kejriwal and AAP. Ramesh stated that while AAP had won in 2015 and 2020 despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, the recent results reflected a rejection of Kejriwal's “politics of deceit and exaggerated claims.” He added, "This vote is a rejection of Kejriwal’s twelve years of misrule." Ramesh also noted that while Congress had hoped for a better result, it did manage to increase its vote share. “Though we may not have a presence in the Assembly, Congress’ vigorous campaign and the hard work of its workers will continue to strengthen our position in Delhi,” he said, optimistically predicting a Congress victory in Delhi assembly elections by 2030. Stating that it was very obvious from all the meetings that people wanted change, Congress General Secretary and MP, Priyanka Gandhi said, “They voted for change. My congratulations to those who won. For the rest of us, it just means we have to work harder and be responsive to people's issues.” AAP humbly accepts people’s mandate: Kejriwal congratulates BJP on victory AGRAJ PRATAP SINGH NEW DELHI, 8 FEBRUARY Accepting the people's mandate in the Delhi assembly elections, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal congratulated the BJP on its victory, hoping it will meet people's expectations. The former Delhi chief minister, who lost the New Delhi assembly seat to BJP’s Parvesh Verma, said his party accepts the people's veridict with humility. In a video message shared on social media platform X on Saturday, he said, “Delhi election results have come out today and we humbly accept the decision of the public." Kejriwal further said that during the past 10 years, the AAP government has done a lot of work in the domains including education, health, water and electricity and tried to help make people's lives better in whatever way it could. He assured people of Delhi that the AAP would take up the role of a constructive Opposition and reach out to the public extending every possible help to individuals and the society. "We will always be there for the people in their joys and sorrows of life, as we had not entered politics for the sake of power, rather we think of politics as a medium to serve the public and be present to help them," he added. The AAP chief extended greetings to all his party workers for their efforts in contesting the polls and for the hard work they put in and kept calm while facing difficulties.' Kejriwal, who contested the election from the New Delhi seat has been defeated by BJP's Parvesh Sahib Singh. Meanwhile, the outgoing chief minister, AAP leader Atishi, while speaking to reporters, said she wanted to thank the people of Kalkaji for trusting her and her entire team for withstanding the alleged muscle power and hooliganism and yet contin- ued to work on the ground. She said though she has won, the time is not to celebrate but to continue the fight against the alleged dictatorship of the BJP. AAP will continue to stand with what is right and keep fighting against what is wrong, she added. Acknowledging that the assembly election results have come as a setback for the Kejriwal party, she said it would continue its struggle for the betterment of people. Another senior AAP leader Sisodia, who lost the election from Jangpura, thanked the people of the assembly constituency while congratulating the winning candidate. He expressed hope that he would resolve the issues pertaining to the area. crores were allegedly spent led to the AAP's downfall. The party has given its worstever performance. Kejriwal apparently realised the tide was turning against his party in the midst of the election campaign as he made many populist announcements to woo his core voter, forcing the BJP to come out with its own 'freebies'. But more 'revdis' announced by Kejriwal distanced him further from the strong middle class segment in Delhi which had strongly supported the AAP in the two previous Assembly elections while continuing to back the saffron outfit in successive Lok Sabha polls. The income tax relief announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the General Budget was icing on the cake for the BJP to strengthen its bond with the middle class. The people of Delhi also rejected the AAP's politics of blaming others for its failures. Kejriwal's statement accusing the Haryana Government of poisoning the Yamuna water shocked even his die-hard supporters. The Congress, an alliance partner of the AAP in the INDIA bloc, again struggled in vain to regain its lost ground in the national capital. The party failed to open its account for the third consecutive time. However, it did cause immense damage to the AAP in many constituencies since the vote bank of the two constituents of the INDIA bloc is more or less the same . AAP leaders openly complained that even BJP leaders did not use the kind of language that was used by the Congress leadership against its leaders during the election campaign. The AAP's electoral defeat is a huge setback for the INDIA bloc and a moralebooster for the BJP-led NDA ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections later this year. (See more reports on pages 2, 3 , 4, 5 and 8) ‘We will make Yamuna the identity of Delhi’ NIKHIL VYAS NEW DELHI, 8 FEBRUARY Thanking the people of the national capital for giving a massive mandate to the BJP in the Delhi Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the new BJP government will make Yamuna river the identity of Delhi . Attacking the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over allegations of corruption against its leaders, the Prime Minister asserted that the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report will be presented in the first assembly session by the BJP government. Mentioning cleaning of Yamuna river, Modi said, "I have pledged during the election campaign that we will make Yamuna the identity of Delhi city. I know this work is difficult and takes a long time. No matter how much time is spent, no matter how much energy is spent, we will do it.” "But if the resolutions are strong, then Yamuna ji will bless you. We will make every effort to serve Mother Yamuna and will work with full devotion," the Prime Minister asserted.Modi termed BJP's victory as "historic".