Other top Punjab leaders who were trailing include Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who formed his own party after leaving the Congress.

AAP workers in Delhi started celebrations at the party headquarters. AAP leader Raghav Chadha said the results were an indication that the people of Punjab had accepted the teamwork between AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and the party's chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann.

"In future, Arvind Kejriwal will be the principal challenger of BJP and AAP will be Congress's national and natural replacement." Mr Chadha said.

(With inputs from agencies)