Delhi Poll Results: A Triumph Of Promised AAP Change

The stunning sweep of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi election is, most of all, the triumph of the promise of change.

And a reminder that encapsulating the force of change into the appeal of the party or leader requires the hard, unrelenting and imaginative work of politics.

In 2014, Narendra Modi became the face of transformation at the Centre. But only months later, in 2015 in Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal has won, having successfully wrested that mantle from Modi, and in fact casting BJP-Modi in the role of the Establishment.

This verdict also signals a transformative moment in the politics of the city.

With the AAP setting the tone, and the Congress and BJP reluctantly taking its cue, this campaign was fought on bijli-sadak-paani-sewer issues and on the daily corruption and harassment faced by the aam aadmi because of an absent or abdicating government.

For the AAP, the challenge of proving that it can be a party of government, not just of insurrection, will begin now. The BJP will have to ask itself whether arrogance and complacence have begun dimming the sheen of its 2014 victory.

And the Congress must know that it cannot just wait back and sit for its turn- its near-erasure in a city it ruled for three successive terms underlines that taking the political initiative is necessary not just to success but also to sheer survival.