AAP win shows Indian voter can't be taken for granted: German ambassador

NEW DELHI: Terming the mandate received by AAP "unprecedented", German Ambassador Michael Steiner today said that the verdict only reaffirmed the fact that the Indian voter can never be "taken for granted".

He further said that Indian democracy is not "necessarily predictable" in throwing up results and that Germany was watching the situation with "great interest".

"This (AAP win) only confirms my conviction that the Indian voter can never be taken for granted and that Indian democracy is well alive and kicking," Steiner said at the sidelines of an event in the national capital.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP today scripted history, earning a spectacular mandate from the people by capturing 67 seats in the 70-member Assembly. The remaining three seats went to BJP, the party which was counting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charisma to deliver it the votes in Delhi.

Steiner called the AAP chief an "impressive personality" and congratulated him in the morning. He also wished him luck for meeting all the challenges he faces while occupying the chief minister's seat.

Meanwhile, reiterating his stand on the German language row, he said he was confident of a "pragmatic solution" in the matter. He added that it would be in the interest of Indian children if German was also offered between classes 9 and 12.

"I am confident that India would find a pragmatic solution and we have a good basis for that in the Supreme Court's decision in December... that German will be offered as an optional language for classes 6 to 8," said Steiner.

About 68,000 students from classes 6 to 8 who are likely to be affected by the HRD Ministry's decision to replace German with Sanskrit as the third language in Kendriya Vidyalayas have been given the option to pick the language of their choice in the annual exams which are to be held in March.

Supreme Court in December had accepted the Centre's proposal that KV students of class 6, 7 and 8 will not have to take examination for third modern Indian language Sanskrit in the current academic session and they may continue to study German as an optional subject.