New Delhi: As soon as counting began to call the Delhi Assembly elections, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) took a decisisve lead over its nearest political competitor the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and continued to steadily build over it as the hours progressed.

Very soon, the AAP was headed towards an absolute majority, something that had eluded them in the December, 2013 elections.

The battle to win control over the city has seen a resurgent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) giving a tough fight to the BJP. While the BJP rode its ‘Modi juggernaut’, the AAP fell back on it rainbow base of the urban rich and the poor. With the Congress a complete pushover in recent elections, the minority vote has also gone to AAP.

All exit polls gave AAP a decisive edge over the Bharatiya Janata Party, with one of them predicting the ‘jhadoo’ would get 53 seats in the 70-member House.

The BJP has rejected the exit polls and exuded confidence of wresting power in Delhi after a gap of 16 years. The party said it would get 34 to 38 seats.

All eyes have been on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal this time — his second shot at power in Delhi after he resigned as its chief minister on February 14, 2014 after just 49 days in power. Having defeated Congess’ Sheila Dikshit last time, Kejriwal headed a minority government but resigned in less than two months because of his inability to pass the proposed anti-corruption bill. He had blamed other parties for not supporting him. Kejriwal later apologised for quitting, and propped himself up in the general elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi.

The BJP, which has been out of power in Delhi for the last 16 years, made a gamble by bringing in former IPS officer Kiran Bedi into the party and made her their chief ministerial candidate which is said to have triggered discontent among the party leaders and ranks.

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