BJP's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi addressing the media after she lost from Krishna Nagar
Kiran Bedi, the BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate, has lost her constituency in East Delhi - one of the many casualties strewn across the capital in a battle won phenomenally by Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
"I have not lost, the BJP has lost. I gave it my best. BJP is a national party, it should introspect on why it has lost," said Ms Bedi, who joined the BJP weeks ago and was quickly declared its presumptive Chief Minister.
Earlier, Ms Bedi told reporters, "If the party wins it will be a collective victory, if it loses, I will take full responsibility." She also said the loss could not be viewed as a metric of the national sentiment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi., "If the party wins it will be a collective victory, if it loses, I will take full responsibility," she told reporters at dawn, appearing on the balcony of her home, from where she tossed answers down to them.
Before she lost her election, she also tweeted her compliments to AAP chief
Arvind Kejriwal, who will now return for a second term as Chief Minister.
Ms Bedi's entry into the BJP sparked severe infighting, and party leaders were concerned that she was being outshone during the campaign by Mr Kejriwal, who drew larger crowds.
The Prime Minister was used by the BJP to address rallies, and the party's senior-most leaders like President Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took ownership of the campaign.
Since her entry into the political contest in Delhi, Mr Kejriwal and his top aides have said that
Ms Bedi was being made "a scapegoat" by the BJP as it became clear that it could not win Delhi. Yogendra Yadav of AAP reaffirmed that today. "It is not fair to blame her so much." He told NDTV, "she was brought in when the BJP scented defeat."