As the TV channels showed Delhi's ruling party AAP is set to score a win on Tuesday in the 8 February legislative elections, Sanjay Singh, a senior politician in the party said “India has won in the Indo-Pakistan match”.
The remark came in response to a sarcastic comment made during poll campaigning by the opposition BJP's Prakash Javadekar and his fellow party member Kapil Mishra to describe what the election meant for their party.
“It is Hindustan and Pakistan’s match, Hindustan has won. People who had labeled it as India-Pakistan match have shown that India has won. 2 crore (20 million) people of Delhi have shown that their son Kejriwal is not a terrorist and is a Hindu nationalist", said Sanjay Singh while addressing people gathered at the AAP office in Delhi.
Singh made the counterattack over the scathing remarks by BJP minister Prakash Javadekar and Kapil Mishra in which the Delhi chief was called a terrorist and the Delhi electoral battle was called an Indo-Pak match.
"The people of Delhi gave a clear message that politics will be over issues. Kejriwal dedicated everything to the common people of the city. Congratulations to all of you. We are heading towards a bigger margin", Singh added.
The Election Commission of India had imposed a 48-hour ban on BJP politician Kapil Mishra for his India-Pakistan tweet ahead of the Delhi elections on 23 January.
Meanwhile, celebrations have begun at Delhi’s AAP office, as the BJP lags behind and the Congress party failing to gain a seat. The party's official account shared a meme from a Shah Rukh Khan film expressing its emotions and taking a jibe at the controversy.
Delhi Chief Arvind Kejriwal also celebrated his wife Sunita’s birthday at the headquarters as her birthday coincided with Delhi election result day.
Cricketer-turned-politician of BJP from Delhi Gautam Gambhir congratulated Kejriwal for the party’s victory. However, the final results are yet to be confirmed.
As the counting of votes will go on into the evening, AAP is currently in a commanding position.
Coming as a newbie into politics in 2013 with a promise of standing up against corruption and the system, Delhi Chief Arvind Kejriwal, had registered a clean sweep and set back BJP and Congress by getting an absolute majority, winning 67 of 70 seats in previous elections.