AAP makes stunning debut, BJP short of majority in Delhi

Newcomer Aam Admi Party today made a stunning debut in electoral politics by winning or leading in 27 of the 70 Assembly seats in Delhi and stopping BJP short of a majority in an election that toppled the three-time Congress Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

Following the trends that showed that Congress was facing a rout in the assembly, Dikshit conceded defeat sending her resignation to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and said the party will analyse what went wrong in the election.

As per results and trends, BJP was all set to get around 32 seats while AAP, whose entry in the fight added a third dimension to the otherwise two sided contest, was likely to get around 27 seats.

"We accept our defeat and we will analyse what went wrong. We respect what the people of Delhi have decided and thank them for supporting us for last 15 years," Dikshit told reporters at her residence during a brief appearance after sending her resignation to Jung.

The three-term Chief Minister herself lost to Arvind Kejriwal by a huge margin of 25,864 votes in the New Delhi constituency in a shocking defeat.

A number of Congress heavy-weights including cabinet ministers lost in the election as AAP, born following the civil society movement against corruption by Anna Hazare, made a strong dent into Congress' support base.

BJP's chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan thanked people of Delhi for giving the party the maximum number of seats.

"I am confident that we will be able to serve the people of Delhi," he said, declining to take questions about the formation of next government as the party looked short of majority in the assembly.

Vardhan extended his wishes to Arvind Kejriwal of AAP and the outgoing Chief Minister.

"I will congratulate Kejriwal on the good show of his party against expectations. I will also offer my thanks to Dikshit for serving Delhi for 15 years," he said.

Vardhan won from the Krishna Nagar constituency with a whopping margin of over 43,150 votes.