Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday addressed a press conference after conceding defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections and said he will work as a constructive opposition in the assembly and will continue to work for the benefit of the voters of the city.
In a video message, Arvind Kejriwal said, "We accept the mandate of the people with great humility. I congratulate the BJP for this victory and I hope they will fulfil all the promises for which people have voted them. We have done a lot of work in the field of health, education, infrastructure in the last 10 years. We will not only play the role of a constructive opposition but will also remain among the people and continue to serve them...
The development comes as BJP candidate from New Delhi assembly constituency Parvesh Verma on Saturday claimed he had defeated AAP convenor and two-time chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Speaking to reporters here, Verma, the son of former Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Verma, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of the city for his "victory".
However, the Election Commission (EC) is yet to declare the winner from New Delhi seat. According to the EC website, Verma was leading by a margin of 4,099 votes against Kejriwal at the end of the 13th round of counting.
While Verma's vote tally stood at 30,024, Kejriwal polled 25,925 votes, the website showed. The final round of counting is underway. Speaking to the media, Verma credited the Prime Minister for BJP's historic performance in the Delhi polls.
"This government which is going to be formed in Delhi will bring PM Modi's vision to Delhi. I give credit for this victory to PM Modi. I thank the people of Delhi. This is the victory of PM Modi and the people of Delhi," he said.
According to current trends, BJP is ahead on 48 seats, having won 5 and leading on 43. While, AAP is ahead on 27, having won 6 and leading on 21. Congress has failed to even open its account in the Delhi elections for the third straight time.
As per the Election Commission, the BJP has won three seats in the Delhi election results. Rekha Gupta from Shalimar Bagh seat, Manjinder Singh Sirsa from Rajouri Garden and Chandan Kumar Choudhary from Sangam Vihar and Tilak Ram Gupta from Tri Nagar have won their seats. The Aam Aadmi Party has won two seats with Virender Singh Kadian from Delhi Cantt and Kuldeep Kumar from Kondli seats.