NEW DELHI: AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday congratulated the party for the victory in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda Assembly seat and opening its account in a fifth state.
Aam Aadmi Party candidate Mehraj Malik, a District Development Council (DDC) member, polled 23,228 votes against BJP's Gajay Singh Rana's 18,690 votes in the Doda assembly constituency.
In an interaction with Malik through video call, Kejriwal accepted his invitation to participate in a programme at Doda on October 10.
"Many congratulations on the grand victory of AAP candidate from Doda Mehraj Malik against the BJP. You fought the election very well. Congratulations to the entire party for having an MLA in the fifth state," Kejriwal said in a Hindi post on X.
Malik took his election certificate from the returning officer as Kejriwal watched on his phone and congratulated the newly elected party MLA.
Malik said he was inspired by Kejriwal and the work done by him in the national capital.
He said Kejriwal who brought about change in Delhi was a "ray of hope" for Jammu and Kashmir and AAP will march forward in the state.
AAP contested seven seats out of 90 in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which is ruling Punjab and Delhi, also has MLAs in Gujarat and Goa.
It was granted the national party status last year.
In 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party made notable gains in the Gujarat Assembly elections, securing five seats.
In the same year, the party achieved a major political victory in Punjab, forming the government with a commanding win of 92 out of 117 seats.
Earlier, in 2020, AAP reinforced its stronghold in Delhi by winning 62 out of 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly elections.
After the party won its first seat in the Jammu and Kashmir polls, senior party leader Delhi Chief Minister Atishi asserted that Arvind Kejriwal's "revolution" has reached Jammu and Kashmir with the "fantastic win" of Malik.
Greeting Malik, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said on X, "Under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal, the caravan of Aam Aadmi Party is growing day by day. Now AAP has MLAs in five states of the country. Many congratulations to the entire leadership and workers."
Party leaders and workers celebrated the Doda win at the AAP headquarters near Mandi House here, distributing sweets and dancing to drum beats.
AAP, however, failed to make a mark in the Haryana assembly elections.