The beating of drums have not stopped since the chilly Sunday morning at the Aam Aadmi Party headquarters here on Hanuman Road. It is the Delhi election results day and the party office is home to one of the Capital's loudest celebrations.
With each passing moment, more people, wearing the white cap, pour into the narrow lanes, raising slogans, singing anti-corruption songs while waving their election symbol, the broom, in the air.
The cheering crowd on the lawn of the party office is watching the election results broadcast on news channels. And the slogans get louder each time the news of any Congress or BJP stalwart being defeated by an AAP candidate is flashed on the small flat TV screen fixed on the walls of the office.
The loudest cheers are heard when party workers learn that AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal is ahead of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit from the New Delhi seat.
The decibel levels soar sky high around 3:20 p.m. when AAP leader Kumar Vishvas declares that Arvind Kejriwal has defeated Ms. Dikshit by 25,864 votes.
And then Mr. Kejriwal shows up from the window, cheering the crowd. “It is not my victory, but that of the common public in the New Delhi constituency,” he said.
While the crowd is cheering, Dr. Harkirat Singh Kapoor, a paediatric doctor from East of Kailash, can barely hold back his tears as he hugs fellow supporters.
“History has been scripted today by a party which has transformed the politics of the Capital. And this is just the beginning before we challenge the politics of corruption across the country. For a moment I didn’t believe this is happening. But then, every thing Kejriwal had said looks like falling into place,” he said.
“The outcome of the Delhi Assembly elections heralds the arrival of a new force in Indian politics. It reaffirms the widely felt disenchantment and disgust with the ruling UPA regime. The spectacular debut of the AAP demonstrates that the aam aadmi of India is willing to trust alternative politics,” said Mr. Kejriwal.
“The AAP’s performance in the Delhi elections is by far the most spectacular political debut in the last three decades. This barely one-year-old political party has achieved this amazing feat in the face of the collective might of the two big parties evident in their money and muscle power,” he adds .
