A New Delhi party focused on improving infrastructure and social services is set to return to power in the Indian capital as near-final results from local elections indicate a resounding victory.
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The polls were considered a bellwether for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose policies include a new citizenship law that excludes Muslims.
With most of the city's vote counting sessions completed, the Election Commission said the city's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or Common Man's Party was leading with 63 of 70 state assembly seats.
"It is the victory of people of Delhi who considered me their son," AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal told his supporters at a rally in Delhi, saying the win marked a "new politics of work".
The BJP was a distant second, ahead or winning merely seven constituencies, while the Indian National Congress led by Sonia Gandhi failed to open its account.
The AAP, founded as an anti-corruption movement in 2012, focused its campaign on its record of improving education and health care in the capital.
It also had a strong appeal among the poor for providing free water, bus rides and subsidised electricity.
The BJP focused on nationalism and recent protests against the new citizenship law in its divisive campaign to defeat the AAP.
The results were a near repeat of the 2015 election, when the AAP won 67 seats and BJP netted three.
Australian Associated Press
