The counting of votes cast in the Delhi Assembly elections has been under way since 8 am today. The latest trends from the Election Commission show the Aam Aadmi Party ahead in 58 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party in 12.
The Delhi Assembly has 70 seats, all of which voted on Saturday.
Here is how the major parties stand, at 1 pm:
Highlights so far:
12.48 pm: “People have rejected BJP. Only development will work, CAA, NRC and NPR will be rejected,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says according to ANI.
12.42 pm: AAP leaders, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, have assembled at the party office, ANI reports. However, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is not present.
12.35 pm: Kejriwal has asked his party workers not to burst firecrackers outside the AAP office in ITO, in order to prevent air pollution, PTI reports.
12.28 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee calls Arvind Kejriwal to congratulate him for his party’s massive lead in the Delhi polls, News18 reports.
12.25 pm: The celebrations at the AAP office in Delhi continue, PTI reports. AAP workers have been celebrating with blue and white balloons, buntings and giant cutouts of Kejriwal. They have been chanting “lage raho Kejriwal” (carry on Kejriwal). The chief minister is at the party office, following trends as the votes were counted.
12.23 pm: “I take responsibility for the party’s performance, we will analyse the factors behind this,” Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra says, after trends show the party scoring a zero once again. “Reason for the drop in our vote percentage is politics of polarization by both BJP and AAP.”
12.20 pm: Congress leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath says the party already knew it was losing the Delhi polls, ANI reports. “The question is – what happened to BJP which was making big claims?”
12.15 pm: AAP candidate Amanatullah Khan is now leading from the Okhla Assembly seat by a comfortable margin of 5,703 votes, the poll panel’s website shows.
12.10 pm: Janata Dal (United) leader Prashant Kishor, who managed AAP’s campaign, thanks the voters of Delhi for standing up to “protect the soul of India”.
11.55 am: AAP’s Atishi is now leading from Kalkaji by a wafer-thin margin of six seats.
11.50 am: AAP workers around Delhi have begun to celebrate the party’s impending victory in the elections. Meanwhile, the party seems to be clear that it is headed for a landslide, as this tweet, alluding to Kejriwal, shows:
11.43 am: Arvind Kejriwal continues to maintain a big lead over his rival, BJP candidate Sunil Yadav, from the New Delhi constituency. Kejriwal is leading by a margin of 6,399 votes.
11.37 am: AAP’s Atishi is now in the lead from the Kalkaji Assembly constituency against BJP’s Dharamvir Singh, the poll panel’s website shows. However, Atishi’s lead is just 111 votes.
11.33 am: AAP’s Raj Kumari Dhillon is leading against BJP’s Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga from Hari Nagar constituency, after the third round of counting.
11.30 am: BJP candidate Braham Singh is leading from the Okhla Assembly constituency, against incumbent AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, by just 194 seats, according to the Election Commission’s website.
Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of the anti-Citizenship Act protests, falls under this constituency. The BJP had unleashed a vitriolic campaign against the Shaheen Bagh protests before the elections.
11.26 am: “I thank everyone who has expressed their confidence in Arvind Kejriwal,” AAP candidate Akhilesh Pati Tripathi, who is leading against BJP’s Kapil Mishra from Model Town, says, according to ANI. “People want a government that takes care of its citizens. People of Delhi have voted for development; I thank them.”
11.19 am: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is trailing BJP’s Ravi Negi by 1427 votes, in Patparganj assembly constituency, after the third round of counting.
11.15 am: Delhi Assembly Speaker and Aam Aadmi Party’s Ram Niwas Goel is trailing from Shahdara, the Election Commission’s website shows.
11 am: AAP’s Raghav Chaddha is leading from Rajinder Nagar, Election Commission trends show.
10.55 am: Congress candidate Mukesh Sharma concedes defeat from Vikaspuri. “As I acknowledge my defeat, I thank all the voters and Congress workers of Vikaspuri constituency and hope that there will be all-round development of the area,” Sharma tweets.
10.50 am: “Everyone knew that Aam Aadmi Party will return to power for the third time,” Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury says, according to ANI. “Congress’s defeat will not send a good message. The victory of AAP against the Bharatiya Janata Party and its communal agenda is significant.”
10.47 am: BJP Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari tells party workers “not to be disheartened” yet, even as trends show AAP winning a clear majority.
10.44 am: AAP leader Sanjay Singh says the party will register a “massive win” in the Delhi Assembly elections, PTI reported. “We have been saying since the beginning that the upcoming polls will be fought on the basis of work done by us and it is too early,” he said. “You wait and watch, we will register a massive win.”
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