Kejriwal thanks voters, workers after landslide Delhi bypoll win

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers and voters of Bawana for the party's landslide win in the Bawana bypoll, results of which was announced on Monday.

"Thanks and congratulations to the people of Bawana for approving the clean politics and work Aam Aadmi Party has been doing for the past two and half years," the Delhi Chief Minister tweeted.

Addressing party workers on Monday evening, Kejriwal said that the win sends a strong message that people are still with AAP like they were when they gave 67 out of 70 seats to AAP in assembly elections.

"People of Bawana showed that people are with the work we have done for the past two and half years," he added.

The Chief Minister said that the victory sends another message that even though the Bhartiya Janata Party has pulled down governments in many states, its tactics won't work in Delhi.

"BJP tried to buy many of our MLAs and contacted many, but got only one traitor," Kejriwal said, referring to Ved Prakash, who quit AAP and fought the bypoll as a BJP candidate.

"The third message the results send is this: If you have courage win elections with VVPAT," he said, challenging the BJP.

Kejriwal said that elections should be organised with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines and votes cast in 25 per cent of the booths should be tallied with VVPAT and then see "how many elections BJP will win".

Saying that the government has been doing a good job, he urged the party workers to work harder to make people aware of the work they have been doing.

Speaking on the occasion, senior party leader Gopal Rai termed the result a historic win for AAP and thanked the workers.

"You won't find Kejriwal's photos in any posts of Bawana, but his image was there, is still there and will remain in people's hearts," he said.

The leader added that win was a vote of people's approval for AAP's developmental works.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj tweeted on Monday evening: "Bawana MCD elections, Old EVMs without VVPAT, AAP lost 5 out of 6 wards. Bawana Bye-Polls with VVPAT paper slips, AAP wins by 24k votes."

--IANS

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