Arvind Kejriwal to take oath as Delhi CM shortly, retain Cabinet

ECI on Tuesday declared the results for all the 70 seats. AAP won 62 while BJP got 8 seats and Congress drew a blank. Catch all Delhi Assembly election 2020 highlights

11:58 AM

Manish Sisodia likely to retain Deputy CM post

I am going to take oath for the third time as a minister in the government. Heartfelt gratitude to the people of Delhi for this love and respect. 

 

11:33 AM

In Pics: Massive crowd in Ramlila Maidan for swearing-in ceremony

Ramlila Maidan decked up for swearing in ceremony. (AAP)

Massive gathering at Ramlila for Kejriwal's swearing in.  (AAP)

11:27 AM

To continue work, Kejriwal to retain Cabinet from 2015

Taking to Twitter on Sunday morning, Kejriwal urged Delhiites to attend his oath-taking ceremony to bless "their son". Besides the AAP chief, his cabinet colleagues - Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai, Satyendar Jain, Kailash Gahlot, Imran Hussain and Rajendra Pal Gautam will also take oath.

 

11:25 AM

Kejriwal set to take oath as Delhi CM

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal will take oath as the chief minister of Delhi for the third consecutive time on Sunday at the city's Ramlila Maidan where a multi-level security arrangement has been put in place. Read More

10:43 PM

Next target- MCD polls

After scripting a scintillating win in the just-concluded Delhi polls, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP is now likely to focus on the next municipal elections, sources said on Wednesday.

 

"As the party has registered a landslide victory in the assembly elections, it will now focus on the next MCD polls," a source said.

 

10:40 PM

Man held for firing on AAP MLA's convoy; police deny political angle

Police have arrested Dharamvir alias Kalu in the case and said there was enmity between him and the deceased 45-year-old Ashok Mann ruling out any political angle behind the attack in which a party supporter was killed.

10:35 PM

Delhi BJP chief meets newly elected party MLAs

The BJP is prepared to work as an aware opposition and expects the new AAP regime to implement the Modi government's flagship schemes like the Ayushman Bharat and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) in the national capital, the saffron party's Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari told reporters after meeting the MLAs on Wednesday.

10:34 PM

Highest NOTA votes in Matiala, lowest in Matia Mahal

The highest number of votes in the None of the Above (NOTA) category was polled in Matiala, with six of the nine candidates in the constituency getting lesser than it in the tally, according to data shared by the Election Commission on its website.

In Matiala, the NOTA votes stood at 1,602, the highest under that category across the total 70 constituencies, while the lowest number of NOTA votes were polled in Matia Mahal -- 216.

 

Over 43,000 votes in the just-concluded Delhi Assembly polls were cast in the NOTA category, constituting about 0.5 per cent of total votes polled.

9:15 PM

Only 3 Congress candidates saved deposits

Only three Congress candidates -- Arvinder Singh Lovely from Gandhi Nagar, Devender Yadav from Badli and Abhishek Dutt from Kasturba Nagar -- could save their deposits.

The grand old party's performance in the just-concluded Delhi Assembly elections touched a record low with the party bagging less than five per cent votes and 63 of its candidates losing their deposits.
 

The party had ruled Delhi for 15 years on the trot under former chief minister Sheila Dikshit.

 

9:13 PM

Krishna Tirath, A K Walia, Haroon Yusuf and Parvez Hashmi lost deposits

Former Union minister Krishna Tirath, ex-Delhi ministers A K Walia, Haroon Yusuf and Parvez Hashmi, and Poonam Azad, wife of the party's campaign committee head and former cricketer Kirti Azad, were among the 63 Congress candidates who forfeited deposits after the party received a drubbing in the February 8 polls.

As per the constituency-wise data shared on the EC website, a total of 529 candidates lost deposits.

9:08 PM

Congress appoints Shakti Gohil as Delhi in-charge; Chacko, Chopra resign

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday accepted the resignation of AICC Delhi in-charge P C Chacko and Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra, and appointed Shakti Sinh Gohil in Chacko's place.
 

Chacko and Chopra resigned from their post in the wake of the party's debacle in the Delhi assembly elections.

9:07 PM

Seventh Delhi Legislative Assembly constituted

The new Delhi Legislative Assembly was constituted on Wednesday, a day after the Aam Aadmi Party swept the elections winning 62 of the 70 seats.
 

The official Twitter handle of the Delhi Assembly said the Election Commission has notified the results of the February 8 polls.
 

"With this the Seventh Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi is deemed to have been constituted w.e.f (with effect from) 12.02.2020 (Section 73 of the Representation of the People Act,1951)," it said.

9:05 PM

Congress loses, AAP gains

The Congress' decline in the national capital indicated that the Muslim community has shifted to the Aam Aadmi Party.
 

Take for instance, Congress' Haroon Yusuf, a minister in the former Sheila Dikshit government, who bagged only 5,107 votes in Ballimaran against his AAP rival who garnered 65,612 votes.
 

In the neighbouring Matia Mahal seat, Congress' Mirza Javed Ali got merely 3,403 votes as against 67,250 votes bagged by AAP's Shoaib Iqbal.

9:03 PM

Congress shrinks in six Muslim-dominated seats, bags less than 45,000 votes polled together

In six Muslim-dominated assembly seats of Delhi, the Congress bagged less than 45,000 votes polled together, in contrast to the Lok Sabha polls when it did significantly well seven months ago.

In five of the six seats -- Ballimaran, Okhla, Matia Mahal, Babarpur, Mustafabad -- the Congress bagged a little more than 5,000 votes in each constituency.

The only saving grace for the party was Seelampur where it garnered more than 20,000 votes.

8:37 PM

Over 500 candidates lost deposits

Over 500 of the 672 candidates who fought the high-stakes Delhi Assembly polls lost their deposits, according to data shared by the Election Commission on its website.

Former Union minister Krishna Tirath, ex-Delhi ministers A K Walia, Haroon Yusuf and Parvez Hashmi, and Poonam Azad, wife of the party's campaign committee head and former cricketer Kirti Azad, were among the 63 Congress candidates who forfeited deposits after the party received a drubbing in the February 8 polls.

6:51 PM

Neither offered to step down nor asked to resign after poll defeat: Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari

Manoj Tiwari on Wednesday said neither has he offered to step down nor has he been asked to resign from the post in the wake of the party's poor performance in the assembly elections in the national capital.
 

Sources, however, claimed that Tiwari had contacted a top party functionary and offered to step down as the Delhi unit chief after the BJP suffered a crushing defeat.

6:50 PM

Kejriwal likely to retain cabinet ministers

Arvind Kejriwal is likely to retain all the cabinet ministers who were part of his previous government, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sources said on Wednesday.
 

Manish Sisodia, Rajendra Pal Gautam, Satyendar Jain, Kailash Gahlot, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain are likely to be retained in the new AAP government, the sources told PTI.

6:37 PM

Over 50% newly-elected Delhi MLAs have serious criminal cases: ADR analysis

An analysis of the declarations made by MLAs reveals that 43 elected MLAs face criminal cases, of whom 37 have declared serious charges including those related to rape, attempt to murder and crime against women, as per a study by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-government organisation working on electoral reforms.

6:35 PM

Delhi people have shown light in this regime of darkness: CPI(M) leader Tarigami

CPI(M) senior leader from Kashmir Yousuf Tarigami on Wednesday took a dig at the Centre, asking them to notify Jammu and Kashmir as a central jail so that it no longer has to enforce draconian laws like the PSA on its citizens.
 

Welcoming the AAP's victory in the Delhi Assembly elections, he said the people of the national capital have shown some light in the "regime of darkness".

"AAP's victory was like a hope in the current regime of darkness," Tarigami said, congratulating the people of Delhi.

6:04 PM

Go for surgical action to revive Congress, says Veerappa Moily

Expressing concern over the Congress debacle in the Delhi Assembly elections, senior party leader M Veerappa Moily said on Wednesday the time to act is now as he called for a "surgical action" to revive the outfit.

 

Moily, a former union minister, argued that the Congress could not perform because its "votebanks have been transferred to AAP as they thought only he (AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal) can defeat the BJP."

6:02 PM

Blame game in Congress after loss; leaders blame Sheila Dikshit for defeat

A day after the party's rout in Delhi elections, the knives are out in the Congress with leaders blaming each other and raising questions on whether the party has outsourced the task of defeating the BJP to others.
 

AICC Delhi in-charge PC Chacko sought to put the blame of the party's decline on late Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, saying the party started losing ground when she was at the helm in 2013.

5:59 PM

After defeat, BJP recalibrates to highlight Centre's public welfare work

Hours after the BJP faced a stunning defeat in Delhi elections, all Union ministers received a letter from their Cabinet colleague and senior party leader Prakash Javadekar asking them to design a campaign to highlight the welfare work done by their respective ministries.
 

The information and broadcasting minister shot off the letter on Tuesday evening, asking all his ministerial colleagues to inform people about their ministry's "public welfare work" through television, newspapers, outdoor and digital mediums between February 15 and March 31.

5:56 PM

All four ex-mayors, municipal leaders fielded by BJP get a drubbing in Delhi polls

All four former mayors fielded by the BJP in the just-concluded Delhi polls received a drubbing at the hands of the AAP as the municipal leaders were reduced to second positions in the constituencies they were fighting the elections from.

1:38 PM

The entire cabinet will take oath along with the CM-designate Arvind Kejriwal: Manish Sisodia

Manish Sisodia, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP): The entire cabinet will take oath along with the CM-designate Arvind Kejriwal. The ceremony will begin at 10 AM on  February 16, at Ramlila Maidan. 

1:32 PM

Dalai Lama lauds Arvind Kejriwal's happiness curriculum initiative

Dalai Lama lauds Kejriwal's happiness curriculum initiative

 

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday congratulated Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on his party's success in the Assembly elections, saying his initiative to incorporate aspects of inner mental development into the school curriculum is laudable.

 

Expressing appreciation of the vibrant democracy that the people of India have enjoyed since the country became independent in August 1947, the Nobel Peace Laureate said: "The people of Delhi will continue to benefit from your able leadership."

 

"As I mentioned to you on July 2, 2018 when we launched the happiness curriculum for government schools in New Delhi, I have deep admiration for the efforts that you and your government have made towards shaping better, happier human beings with improved values.

 

"These measures will have a positive impact on children's overall education, as well as helping the poor to fulfil their dreams of improving their lives," the Dalai Lama said in a statement.

 

"In addition to promoting basic human values and encouraging inter-religious harmony, I am committed to reviving interest in the ancient Indian understanding of the workings of the mind and emotions. I therefore appreciate the Delhi government's initiative to incorporate aspects of inner mental development into the school curriculum.

 

"Through such initiatives, you are showing a path to the rest of India. This is important, as I believe India is the only country that can successfully combine this ancient knowledge with modern education and ensure that people know how to achieve lasting peace of mind," he added.

1:30 PM

Congratulations, now make Hanuman Chalisa mandatory in all schools, madrasas: BJP's Vijayvargiya

BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday congratulated AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal for winning the Delhi elections while also taking a jibe at him, asking for Hanuman Chalisa to be introduced in all educational institutions of Delhi.

 

"Congratulations to Arvind Kejriwal Ji! Certainly, whosoever comes to Lord Hanuman gets his blessings. Now the time has come that Hanuman Chalisa recitation should be made compulsory in all schools, madrasas and other educational institutions of Delhi. Why should 'Delhi' children remain deprived of the blessings of Bajrangbali?" Kailash Vijayvargiya wrote on twitter.

11:59 AM

Sonia Gandhi, Venkaiah Naidu call up Kejriwal and congratulate him

Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu called up AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and congratulated him over his party's victory in Delhi election.

11:13 AM

Delhi election result a big relief, says Yogendra Yadav

Swaraj Party leader Yogendra Yadav, who was once an integral part of the Aam Aadmi Party, has said that the results of Delhi Assembly election are a big relief, but does not show the road ahead on the political landscape of India.

 

In a conversation with IANS, Yadav said he feels the results are a relief as the BJP could not rise to power on the basis of its communal agenda, adding "it would have been vey bad if BJP had won".

 

Yadav said the election results have halted the "wheels of Bharatiya Janata Party's communal juggernaut". The saffron party, that was locked in a high decibel pre-electoral campaign battle with the AAP, could not even manage to get double-digit seats but improved its tally to eight, compared to three it bagged in 2015 polls.

 

Yadav was one of the prominent figures to feature in the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption movement of which AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal was also one of the leading faces.

 

Yadav told IANS after the announcement of election results on Tuesday, that the mandate should make BJP understand that the people have discarded its communal agenda, and the party should focus more on the upliftment of the poor.

 

"Don't stick to Shaheen Bagh issue and try to mislead the people. The AAP and the people of Delhi deserve to be congratulated for this by cleaning up the communal mind of the BJP," Yadav said.

11:03 AM

Kejriwal at the Raj Niwas to meet Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal

CM-designate & AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal arrives at the Raj Niwas to meet Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.

10:41 AM

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal to take oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi on 16th February, at Ramlila Maidan