Allegations of corruption against its leaders, constant bickering with the lieutenant governor over governance issues and a spirited campaign conducted by the Bharatiya Janata Party were enough to ensure a rout of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi assembly polls, the results of which were declared on Saturday.
What will be more hurtful for the AAP is the fact that its top guns -- Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain -- suffered defeats in their constituencies, a major setback for the party that had come to power on the anti-corruption plank.
The party will have a lot to introspect in the coming days as it will be for the first time since its inception that it will be serving as the opposition in the national capital.
The AAP was confident of retaining power in Delhi but corruption allegations against its top leaders and a rampant campaign by the BJP, tagging Kejriwal and other leaders as corrupt, dented its image.
The AAP that had won 67 and 62 seats in the 2015 and 2020 assembly polls respectively was restricted to only 22 seats this time.
The 'kattar imandaar' image of the party took a major beating due to the arrest of its senior leaders in various corruption cases.
The BJP's constant attacks on AAP supremo Kejriwal over the issue of renovation of the chief minister's residence, which it referred to as Sheesh Mahal, also paved the way for the party's loss in the keenly-contested polls.
Former Delhi chief minister Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Sisodia and AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were arrested in connection with the excise-policy case, while Jain was arrested in another money-laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate.
Even though the party and its leaders called these arrests the results of a conspiracy and witch hunt by the BJP, the voters, it seems, were not convinced.
The arrests of Kejriwal, Sisodia and Jain not only hit governance in Delhi but also put a spanner in the political affairs of the AAP.
Other top leaders of the party also lost their seats in close contests.
Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, who was the party's go-to person for firefighting and talking about the hindrances in governance, lost the Greater Kailash seat.
The defeats of Kejriwal, Sisodia and Jain mean that the AAP cannot even claim moral victory in the polls that have seen the BJP returning to power in Delhi after a gap of more than 26 years.
Another factor that might have tilted the scales in favour of the BJP was the AAP government's constant tussle with Delhi LG V K Saxena over governance issues.
Right from the cleaning of drains to stopping schemes like the doorstep delivery of services, the AAP government would always lay the blame on the LG or the BJP-led Centre for creating obstacles in governance.
The arrests of Kejriwal, Sisodia and Jain brought governance to a standstill in the capital. Kejriwal did not resign from the chief minister's post after he was arrested by the ED in March last year, with the party saying that he did not cower before the Centre's witch hunt.
After being released from prison on bail, Kejriwal stepped down as the chief minister, saying he will return to the post only if people give him a 'certificate of honesty'.
Following Saturday's defeat, Kejriwal said the AAP accepts the mandate with humility and stressed that it will not only play the role of a constructive opposition but will also be available to people in times of need.
"We accept the people's mandate with humility. I congratulate the BJP for its victory and also hope that it will fulfil the expectations of the people of Delhi," he said.
Reflecting on the work done by the AAP in Delhi in the last 10 years, the former chief minister said, "We have done a lot of work in education, water, electricity, infrastructure to provide relief to Delhiites."
While the BJP said people chose to make Delhi 'AAP-da' (disaster) free, the Congress called the results a referendum on Kejriwal and his party.
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