Shawdesh Desk:

Arvind Kejriwal is set to return as Delhi’s Chief Minister for a third time after the voters of Delhi gave his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) a thumbs up in a hard-fought election.

As of 12.24 pm (India Standard Time) on Tuesday, the AAP was leading in 58 seats, the BJP was ahead in 12 and the Congress was still to open its account.

Arvind Kejriwal’s party went to the polls with his performance or Kaam ki Rajniti, as he told media in a recent interview. Electricity bills, mohalla clinics and improved government schools were a big part of his agenda.

The BJP, on the other hand, fought the elections on national issues like the CAA-NRC, Article 370 and end to Triple Talaq, while attacking the gathering of anti-CAA protesters at Shaheen Bagh, trying to polarise the Hindu vote around the issue.

Apart from Home Minister Amit Shah, who personally guided and led the Delhi campaign, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed several rallies, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the stage at three.

As votes are counted, it appears that the AAP’s efforts to “localise” the Delhi election has succeeded while the BJP’s bid to “nationalise” and “polarise” the election has failed.

The Congress, which hardly put up a show, is a poor third so far in terms of vote share. It’s looking increasingly unlikely that the party will open its account in the Delhi polls.