AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal waves to supporters at the party office in New Delhi (Associated Press photo)
Through a shower of petals and jubilant cheers that rained all around him, Arvind Kejriwal, the 46-year-old chief of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), addressed a sea of supporters, who were wearing the trademark AAP white caps.
"Thanks for the unprecedented victory," Mr Kejriwal, said, "It's very scary - this support of support. We must guard against arrogance."
The scale of Mr Kejriwal's victory is so immense that the note of caution sounded by him seems appropriate. AAP, just two years old, won 67 of a possible 70 seats in Delhi, crushing the BJP with such force that it was left with just three seats. Its mauling is surpassed only by that of the Congress, which won no seats at all.
Mr Kejriwal will take his oath as Chief Minister of Delhi for a second time on Saturday at the same public park where he was sworn-in a year ago. That term lasted a skimpy 49 days; in his campaign, Mr Kejriwal sought "forgiveness" for his impulsive resignation and pledged to combat corruption while promising cheaper utilities, more colleges and free wi-fi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who campaigned aggressively for the BJP in Delhi, congratulated
Mr Kejriwal on the phone and said on Twitter that the Centre will provide full support to Mr Kejriwal for the development of Delhi.
At election rallies, the PM had described Mr Kejriwal as "a back-stabber" who ejected from office when confronted with a challenge. But the visible people connect for Mr Kejriwal and his cadres, who launched a well-planned campaign months before other parties, left the BJP jittery and it chose, three weeks ago, to induct
former top cop Kiran Bedi and name her its presumptive Chief Minister.
Her arrival exacted
deep infighting within the BJP and she was defeated today in a party stronghold. "It is not my loss. The BJP is a national party, it should introspect why it lost," she said, though, like other BJP leaders, she claimed the result "
is not a referendum for the Prime Minister."