A subdued atmosphere prevailed outside three-time Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's residence here Sunday following an embarrassing defeat for her and her party in the assembly polls.
Adding insult to injury to the Congress' third position was that Dikshit was herself defeated by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi constituency by a whopping margin of 25,864 votes. The AAP leader got 44,269 votes defeating Dikshit who got 18,405 votes.
Some party workers had gathered outside Dikshit's residence - 3, Motilal Nehru Marg - Sunday morning hopeful of a win. Some conducted a havan while others brought dozens of boxes of sweets anticipating victory.
However, the party workers as well as their leader were in for a rude shock.
While the AAP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued to bag seats every few minutes, the Congress struggled to reach double-digits. At around 11 a.m., the writing was on the wall -- the party which had ruled the city for 15 years would struggle to win even ten seats this time.
The fact that many of its ministers, including the chief minister, had lost was humiliating.
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The little hope that was left among the handful of gathered people died when Dikshit submitted her resignation to Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung at around noon.
Accepting her defeat, Dikshit said the Congress party would analyse the reason behind the defeat.
"We never expected this. I am really shocked and sad," a party worker said as he packed the unopened sweets boxes back in his car and drove off.
Some others who tried to meet Dikshit were asked to leave by her staff as well.
Similar were the scenes at Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) office, at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg in central Delhi, which wore a deserted look.