The timing and scale of the defeat could not have been worse for the Arvind Kejriwal-led party which is still reeling from its dismal performance in Punjab and Goa assembly polls.
The Shiromani Akali Dal's Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who contested the polls on a BJP ticket, bagged 40,602 votes, over 50 per cent of the total vote count, in what turned out to be a two-cornered fight with the Congress' Meenakshi Chandela finishing second with 25,950 votes.
The victory came as a boost for the BJP which is hoping to retain power in the three municipal corporations staving off anti-incumbency after having controlled the entities over the last one decade.
The result also indicated a shift in the city's political dynamics which had witnessed a radical churn in 2015 when the AAP had romped home with a staggering 67 seats in the 70- member Delhi Assembly, decimating the Congress and the BJP.
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"There was anger among people after Jarnail went to Punjab. We tried convincing them, but with the results we are realising that people were not convinced and remained upset," he said, adding that the verdict won't have any impact on the April 23 MCD polls.
The Delhi BJP was quick to demand Kejriwal's resignation on "moral grounds" and said this was the "beginning of the end" of the AAP in the national capital.
In terms of vote share, the Congress staged a turnaround of sorts by getting around 33 per cent of the total votes cast, in a jump of over 21 per cent over the 2015 Assembly polls.
"INC workers have done well to jump from 12% to 38% in just 2 years! AAP loses deposit. Keep the spirit alive-we'll be the dark horse in MCD!" Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken tweeted before the final tally was out. The final figures were slightly different.
With the victory, the BJP's tally in the Assembly will become four. The Congress does not have any presence in the House.
Around 47 per cent of the over 1.6 lakh electors of the west Delhi seat had cast their vote on April 9.
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