Graft issue hurt AAP in MCD polls, effect to be more in 2-3 yrs: BJP leader

Corruption issue raised by BJP against AAP govt had an impact in MCD polls and the effect will magnify in 2 to 3 years during Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, party's Delhi unit working president claimed

The corruption issue raised by the BJP against the Arvind Kejriwal government had an impact in the MCD polls and the effect will magnify in two to three years when the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls are held, the party's Delhi unit working president Virendra Sachdeva claimed Wednesday.

"(Prime Minister) Narendra Modi is the leader of everyone in the BJP and the rest of us are just workers," he said, adding the party's vote share will be boosted by increasing awareness among people about various benefits Delhi has received from the Central government's initiatives.

Under Modi's leadership, BJP leaders and workers will work towards ensuring that the party wins all seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi and better its 52 per cent vote share of the last Lok Sabha polls in the next general elections, Sachdeva told reporters.

Sachdeva took over as working president of the Delhi BJP last Sunday after Adesh Gupta stepped down following the party's defeat in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls.

The Delhi BJP working president asserted that the AAP will be able to run the civic body if it does not seek the cooperation of his party's councillors.

The Aam Aadmi Party won the MCD elections with 134 seats, ending the 15-year rule of the BJP in the civic body. The BJP bagged 104 seats in the 250-member municipal corporation.

"We have received a very good mandate. Even though we could not come back to power in the MCD, the people of Delhi have enabled us to work as an effective check on the AAP," Sachdeva said when asked if the BJP will contest the post of mayor.

"In the MCD polls, the AAP lost in wards of its leaders (Manish) Sisodia and (Satyendar) Jain who are facing corruption charges. This means the people have rejected the AAP for corruption. In the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls to be held in two to three years, this public impression will deepen with more of the AAP's corruptions exposed by us," he added.

He said now it was time for the AAP to deliver on its promises, including flattening the three landfill sites in Delhi.

"They should tell us how are they going to clean the landfill sites. They were quick to point fingers at BJP in this regard when it was ruling the civic body. We will support them if they work on their promise," Sachdeva said while claiming there were 17 "garbage mountains" in Punjab which is ruled by the AAP.

The working president of the Delhi BJP also claimed that his party would have won around 140 to 150 wards in the MCD polls if the votes of its supporters were not "deleted" under an AAP government "conspiracy".

Citing the outcome of the polling in Gorakh Park ward, he said the BJP was defeated by a margin of 1,948 votes "due to deletion of 9,600 votes".

"This happened in several wards where a significant number of votes of a particular group was deleted and the BJP lost," he alleged.

Sachdeva said that a ward-wise analysis will be carried out in the coming days to identify reasons for the defeat. The BJP will also continue its attack on the AAP government in Delhi over the issue of corruption, he said.