Atishi dances to celebrate poll win, Swati Maliwal terms it ‘shameless display’
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi was seen dancing after her victory in the Assembly elections from the Kalkaji constituency.
The move drew sharp criticism from AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, who called it a “shameless display”. Maliwal’s remarks came in light of AAP’s humiliating defeat in the elections.
A video surfaced showing Atishi dancing and celebrating with supporters following her victory in the Kalkaji Assembly seat. Maliwal questioned the timing of the celebration, with nearly all its senior leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, losing their seats.
“What kind of shameless display is this? The party lost, all the big leaders lost, and Atishi Marlena is celebrating like this?” she wrote. Atishi retained the Kalkaji seat after a hard-fought contest, polling 52,154 votes and defeating BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri by a margin of 3,521 votes.
The contest remained tense as Bidhuri took an early lead, raising concerns that AAP might face yet another loss. However, Atishi managed to turn the tide in the later rounds of counting, securing one of the few victories for her party.
Despite her win, the overall election outcome was disastrous for AAP, which could only muster 28 seats, while the BJP stormed back to power in Delhi after 27 years with a dominant 48-seat victory.
Earlier in the day, Atishi had addressed the media, expressing gratitude to the people of Kalkaji and her campaign team.
“I thank the people of Kalkaji for showing trust in me. I congratulate my team who worked against ‘baahubal’. We accept the people’s mandate. I have won, but this is not a time to celebrate-it is a time to continue our fight against the BJP’s dictatorship and hooliganism,” she said.
AAP faced a major electoral setback, with senior leaders including Arvind Kejriwal, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Durgesh Pathak, and Manish Sisodia suffering defeats.
Notably, AAP secured 43.57% of the votes, while the BJP, making its return to power, garnered 45.56%. Congress, failing to win a single seat, managed a vote share of just 6.34%.