Opposition leaders on Tuesday hailed the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party's(AAP) landslide win in the Delhi assembly polls as a defeat of the politics of polarisation and hate and a victory of inclusive politics, and said "winds of change" are blowing in the country.
With Kejriwal set to become the chief minister of Delhi for the third straight term, leaders of non-BJP parties cutting across party lines said the poll outcome showed that elections can be fought and won on the development plank. There was also a call for all regional parties to come together to keep the BJP out of power.
Key BJP ally and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar side-stepped queries on the drubbing received by his party JD(U), the BJP and the LJP but made a terse comment "Janta malik hai" (will of the people is supreme).
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was among the first leaders to congratulate Kejrwial, said the Delhi polls have proven that only development will work.
"I have congratulated Arvind Kejriwal. People have rejected BJP. Only development will work, CAA, NRC and NPR will be rejected." the TMC supremo told reporters in Kolkata, amid the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA), National Register of Citizens(NRC) and National Population Register(NPR).
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar utilised the AAP's sweeping win to stress that regional parties need to come together to keep the BJP out of power.
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"The Delhi poll results indicate 'winds of change' are blowing in the country. The results are not surprising to me," Pawar told reporters in Pune.
"The BJP, as usual, played the communal card to polarise votes, but failed," he said.
After winning the Patparganj seat in a close contest, AAP senior leader and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia accused the BJP of indulging in the politics of hate.
"We indulge in politics of development not politics of hate," he told reporters.
Even as Congress failed to open its account in this election, its senior leader P Chidambaram congratulated the AAP and said it had defeated the divisive politics of the BJP.
"AAP won, bluff and bluster lost. The people of Delhi, who are from all parts of India, have defeated the polarising, divisive and dangerous agenda of the BJP. I salute the people of Delhi who have set an example to other states that will hold their elections in 2021 and 2022."
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said Delhi has given a befitting reply to the BJP's "politics of hate and violence."
DMK chief MK Stalin said the victory is an indication that "development trumps communal politics."