Has Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal failed in the ‘agni pariksha’ of Delhi Assembly polls? The AAP leader lost to Bharatiya Janata Party’s Parvesh Verma in the Delhi Assembly election.
In the tightly contested seat, from where Congress leader and former CM Sheila Dikshit’s son Sandeep Dikshit is also contesting, Kejriwal lost to Verma by a margin of over 4,000 votes, as per Election Commission. He gained over 30,000 votes in the election. Dikshit finished as distant third, polling only little over 4,500 votes.
Kejriwal resigned as Delhi chief minister in September last year, soon after his release from Tihar prison on bail in cases related to alleged scam in now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy. The bail conditions had restricted Kejriwal from visiting the chief minister’s office or signing any official files.
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Announcing his decision to resign in September last year, Kejriwal said the Delhi Assembly polls would be his ‘agni pariksha’ and he would come clean of all allegations against him. Kejriwal said he would hold the chief minister’s post again only after a "Agni Pariksha" (Trial by fire) and after getting a certificate of honesty from the people of Delhi. “When Lord Rama returned from his exile after 14 years, Sita Maiyya had to undergo ‘agni pariksha’. Now, I have come back from jail, and I am ready to undergo 'agni pariksha',” Kejriwal had said.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi has won from Kalkaji seat defeating the BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri. Atishi won by a margin of over 3,000 votes.