Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal
's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has impressed mainstream political parties with a dazzling debut in the Delhi election, has also rattled them in equal measure.
After three days of uncertainty over who will form a government in Delhi, which has delivered a hung verdict, a BJP leader has ridiculed the new party as some "Aam-Amrud Party" - a party of fruits - that dreams of besting their prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
"An Aam-Amrud party has sprung up... they say they will stop Narendra Modi and the BJP... the people of Delhi have given you a thumbs-up but this seems to have gone to your head... it almost seems that a miracle has happened in Indian politics," BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said last night.
Senior leaders of the BJP - which fell short of the numbers to form a government despite emerging the leading party in Delhi after 15 years - have acknowledged the power of the year-old party that seems to have stolen its thunder.
The AAP won 28 of the 70 seats in Delhi, coming a close second to BJP's 31, which fell five short of the halfway mark. The AAP has ruled out any alliance with either the saffron party or the outgoing Congress which was badly mauled, settling for a third place with just eight seats.
On Tuesday, the Congress, too, mocked the AAP after first offering to back the party. Congress leader Raj Babbar said Mr Kejriwal should join hands with the BJP to fulfil the promises it made.
(Read)Sensing the mood after the voters' response to the AAP, the BJP has also refused to stake claim to power, wanting to signal that it will abstain from the machinations it would take to form a majority in order to govern Delhi.
But senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley accused the AAP of shying away from any bid to form a government to avoid the responsibility of fulfilling its "unrealistic promises."