Delhi election: Arvind Kejriwal set to return for third term as chief minister

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal looks to be heading back to power as early results show a big win for his party in the Indian capital.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is leading in more than two-thirds of the 70 seats.

Delhi voted on 8 February after an aggressive campaign that pitted the AAP against India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The results are a setback for the BJP after it won a landslide in general elections last year.

The latest results show the AAP either winning or leading in 63 seats, while the BJP is ahead in just seven.

"This is a win for Mother India," a grinning Mr Kejriwal told his supporters at the AAP office. He waved and blew them kisses, and said he "loved the people of Delhi".

The 51-year-old former bureaucrat rose to political fame as an anti-corruption campaigner. He first became chief minister in 2013 and was then re-elected in 2015 with a landslide. He has been credited with turning around Delhi's government-run schools, establishing affordable neighbourhood clinics and providing cheap water and electricity.

He has also consistently campaigned for greater autonomy for the state, as control of its police force and land still rest with the federal government.

"It's not just my win. This is a win for every family whose children are now getting good education in school, whose family members are getting good treatment in hospitals," he said.

Mr Kejriwal is leading a victory parade from the AAP office to the Hanuman temple in the city centre, after saying his party's victory was a blessing from Hanuman.

Celebrations are under way outside the AAP office where party workers told BBC Hindi the win vindicates their decision to campaign hard on "governance and development", and refrain from "divisive politics".

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