Congress calls BJP win in Delhi a referendum on Arvind Kejriwal

The BJP and its NDA partners on Saturday, 8 February, hailed the Delhi victory as an endorsement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership while the Congress asserted that it was a referendum on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and not Modi's policies.

Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the "meltdown of a section of so called liberals is completely bizarre" and said the Delhi election result is a "rejection of the Trojan horse that attempted to damage the liberal cause" across the country.

"Majority of liberals are rightly cheering the fall of the facade so that the real champion of liberal values - the Indian National Congress - can emerge stronger to take the BJP on and defeat it," Khera said on X.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, "It would have been better had the ties between AAP and Congress been good. Both parties fought against the BJP separately. Had they contested jointly, the BJP's defeat would have been certain. We should take lessons from this."

Most of the top leaders of INDIA bloc parties were silent on the Delhi poll verdict.

"Delhi's matter remains in Delhi... we don't have any comment on it. It will have no impact in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee will become the CM for the fourth time in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections... Our leadership is analysing what happened in Delhi but it will have no impact in Bengal," TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said.

Union ministers, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and NDA partners hailed Modi's leadership and Home minister Amit Shah's strategies.

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the people of Delhi have put an end to the politics of lies and theatrics pursued by the AAP.

"Farmers in the national capital were tired of the 'AAP-da' government. Now the farmers will benefit from the policies of the Central government," Chouhan, a former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, said.

Accepting the verdict of the people, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party did the groundwork to oust the AAP government in public interest, but the "public did not give us the mandate as expected".

"Every Congress leader and worker worked unitedly under adverse circumstances, but more hard work and struggle is still required," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he humbly accepts the mandate of Delhi as he thanked party workers and voters.

"This fight for the progress of Delhi and the rights of Delhiites, (and) against pollution, price rise and corruption - will continue," Gandhi said on X.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the assembly election results reflected nothing more than a referendum on Kejriwal and AAP.

Noting that AAP won in Delhi at the height of prime minister's popularity in 2015 and 2020, it shows that, "rather than being vindication of the policies of the prime minister, this vote is a rejection of Arvind Kejriwal's politics of deceit, deception, and vastly exaggerated claims of achievement."

"The Congress was expecting to do better. It has, however, increased its vote share. The campaign of the Congress was vigorous. It may not be in the assembly but it is definitely a presence in Delhi, a presence that will be expanded electorally with the sustained efforts of lakhs of Congress workers," Ramesh said.

"There will be a Congress government once again in Delhi in 2030," he asserted.