AAP dethrones BJP from MCD

| | new Delhi
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AAP dethrones BJP from MCD

Thursday, 08 December 2022 | Staff Reporter | new Delhi

AAP dethrones BJP from MCD

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday ended the BJP 15-year rule in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) bagging 134 seats, eight more than the required majority in the 250-member civic body, and increasing its vote share by a whopping 16 per cent to 42.05 per cent. However, contrary to the exit polls’ predictions, the BJP went past the three-digit figure winning 104 seats despite the perceived anti-incumbency. And though winning fewer seats, BJP’s vote share rose by almost three per cent to 39.09 per cent.

This is the first time the AAP has ousted the BJP from power in any election even as it awaits the results of the Assembly polls in BJP-ruled Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.

Expectedly, the Congress came up with yet another dismal performance managing just nine seats, and losing nine per cent of its vote share in the process to garner just 11.68 per cent votes. The plight of the Congress can be gauged from the fact that its candidates on 188 seats forfeited their deposit.

Despite its impressive performance, three AAP candidates lost their deposit while 10 BJP candidates shared a similar fate. Overall, 780 candidates lost their deposit.

From clearing garbage mounds to solving parking problems, the AAP will have its hands full with the BJP, given its decent numbers, not expected to allow it any breathing space. The two parties are also likely to be at loggerheads over a plethora of other issues, viz, the election of Mayor and the nomination of elder members.

BJP IT department head Amit Malviya indicated about the things to come, saying the Mayor’s election is still an open game and noted that Chandigarh, where its rival was the largest party, has a mayor from BJP ranks.

The Muslim vote seems to have been split between the AAP and the Congress. This gave the BJP an advantage in many wards, especially in Northeast Delhi, where riots had broken out in late February 2020.

The AAP clearly benefitted from the crossover of the Congress voters disappointed and disenchanted with the grand old party’s functioning over the last few years. But the BJP giving it a fight ensured that the AAP fell way short of its target of winning 230 seats, which it had publicly announced.

The BJP seems to have lost out due to the “urban apathy” as the results on two seats with the highest and lowest voter turnouts would suggest. A cadre-based party, the BJP won the Bakhtawarpur ward with the highest margin as its workers mobilised party’s supporters to come out and vote for it. The AAP won the Andrewsganj seat with the lowest margin.

However, while an aggregate of exit polls gave the BJP a maximum of 84 seats, it well surpassed it by winning 20 seats more.

Thanking the people of Delhi, Kejriwal said the civic body will be rid of “corruption and bribery”. Incidentally, the AAP lost six of the seven wards to the BJP in the Assembly constituencies represented by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and jailed Minister Satyendar Jain, both facing corruption charges.

Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said, “Despite 15 years of anti-incumbency, our performance is better. We worked for the people of Delhi at the municipal corporations but maybe some people were not happy. There was no anger against the BJP though.”

Indicating the tough battle, 12 candidates won by a margin of less than 200 votes, with eight of these seats going to the BJP and four to the AAP. Interestingly, the AAP was able to scrape through with two of the lowest margins of victory (44 and 187 votes).

Moreover, its candidate also recorded the biggest victory margin of 17,134 votes in Chandni Mahal.

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