Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma emerged victorious from the New Delhi assembly constituency defeating his nearest rival, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. With this victory the BJP candidate is being described in the media as giant killer.

The result for the New Delhi seat is a major upset in the Delhi assembly elections the outcome of which is trickling in as the counting of votes are underway on Saturday.

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Kejriwal, who rose to prominence from Anna Hazare’s movement, India Against Corruption, against the UPA government at the Centre, came to the centre stage in Delhi politics.

While much of the credit for Kejriwal’s defeat is being given to Parvesh Verma, it is Congress candidate Sandeep Dikshit who dented the AAP chief’s poll prospects. The Son of former Delhi chief minister Sheila upset the AAP convenor’s applecart of by securing over 4,500 votes.

Kejriwal lost the seat with a much smaller margin than his Congress rival suggesting a possible split in anti-BJP votes.

Notebly, the AAP and Congress were allies in the Lok Sabha elections but Kejriwal decided not to contest the Delhi Assembly elections in alliance with his INDIA bloc partner.

Prior to the elections, Kejriwal was embroiled in corruption charges in the liquor policy scam case. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and sent to Tihar Jail before being released later on bail.However, he vehementlyu dismissed the allegations as a political conspiracy by the BJP and denied any wrongdoing.

Following his bail, Kejriwal resigned as Delhi chief minister last year with a pledge to return to office only when the people of Delhi re-elect him. However, that was not to be.

After registering victory in the New Delhi seat, Parvesh Verma, who is now being seen as a potential contender for the chief minister’s post, reached the BJP office to celebrate the victory with party workers.

Crediting the success of his party in the Delhi elections to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, “The government to be formed in Delhi will bring PM Modi’s vision to Delhi. I give credit for this victory to PM Modi. I thank the people of Delhi. This is the victory of PM Modi and the people of Delhi.”

As per the latest ECI trends, the BJP has officially won five seats while leading on 43 others and the AAP has wrest five seats and is leading in 17 others.

As for the Congress, the party has failed to open its account in Delhi for the third consecutive time.