New Delhi: Political leaders across the nation have lauded the victory of Aam Admi Party in the Delhi elections, on Tuesday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday described the Aam Aadmi Party’s win in the Delhi Assembly polls as a victory of democracy and said the people did not want divisive politics.
Banerjee, who made a phone call to AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to congratulate him on his party’s resounding success, later told media here that the BJP was losing every poll now.
Banerjee recalled that there was a time when the BJP was disturbing the AAP government a lot. “We (many non-BJP regional parties) had then rushed to his house. Today, we are very happy that despite the bigotry and narrow-minded politics of hatred, it has turned out to be a victory of the people. The politics of hatred did not work this time.”
“It’s a victory of democracy. I congratulate the people of Delhi.”
The Trinamool Congress Chief said though Delhi has a small area, the BJP-led Centre had used all its might to “capture the state”.
“Despite letting loose its might and also those of its agencies to to capture the state forcibly, the BJP has lost. It is continuously losing every election everywhere,” she said.
Banerjee said the reason was people don’t like the BJP’s despicable politics, the divisive politics. “People want jobs, food, dress and shelter, development and peace. So politics should be for peace and development, and for the good of the country and its people,” she said.
Recapitulating the election results post the Lok Sabha polls, Banerjee said while the Congress-Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party combine was running the government in Maharashtra, the BJP also lost Jharkhand.
“Last year, they were defeated in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In between, they somehow managed to win the parliamentary elections. But, after they won the second term at the centre, they started their audacity and political vendetta again. As a result, the country is burning,” she said.
In an apparent reference to the new Citizenship Amendment Act, Banerjee said the country had more important issues like unemployment, economy, development, industry and price hike.
Banerjee charged the BJP with using “so-called” NGOs and heretic organisations to spread lies.
“In the name of so-called NGOs and so-called heretic organisations, they only spread garbage of lies, rumour, and are spending money as if through a hose pipe. And, they are spreading all such rumours and false propaganda between communities,” she said.
Public is supreme
Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U chief Nitish Kumar on Tuesday just said “public is supreme”, when asked to comment on the Delhi assembly poll results.
Nitish Kumar was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a statue of Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhyay at Rajendra Nagar here.
The JD-U contested the Delhi assembly polls in alliance with the BJP and had fielded two candidates. Its candidates are way behind the rival Aam Aadmi Party at both the seats, as per initial trends.
Nitish Kumar has last month had sacked party Vice President and political strategist Prashant Kishor, who joined hands with Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP for the Delhi poll campaign.
Kishor thanked Delhi voters for “standing up to protect the soul of India”.
Counting of votes is still underway in Delhi where the AAP is heading for a big win with leads in 58 seats, according to the Election Commission’s website.
Sena, NCP congratulate
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) impending victory in Delhi Assembly polls is the result of solid and visible development works carried out at the ground level for the people of the national capital, the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi allies in Maharashtra said here on Tuesday.
Hailing AAP for its impressive election performance, Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) national spokesperson and state minister Nawab Malik said that the people of Delhi have resoundingly defeated Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) “arrogance”.
“Politics of hatred and division has been rejected and unity and brotherhood has won. The politics of sheer arrogance has been defeated and the people of Delhi have won,” said Malik.
He said that during the campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to the people of Delhi to vote against the “anti-national forces”.
“The people of Delhi have bowed before Modiji’s call. They have declared BJP as ‘anti-national’ now,” Malik said.
Senior Shiv Sena leader and state minister Anil Parab said that the people of Delhi have backed the development works of AAP and voted for the party.
“Despite deploying top leaders in the poll campaign, the BJP has been decisively rejected in Delhi as the people have voted on the issue of development only,” Parab said.
Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said that though the party did not fare as expected, it has improved upon its previous tally.
