AAP debuts in MCD bypolls with five seats

Polls a setback for BJP, which has been ruling the MCD for close to a decade, as the party gets only three seats; Congress tally at five

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won five out of 13 seats in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) bypolls. While this marked the AAP’s debut in the civic bypolls, it also marked the revival of the electoral prospects of the Congress, which had been decimated after the last Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. The party had won four seats, but its tally went up to five after rebel Congress candidate Rajender Singh Tanwar rejoined the party after winning as an independent.

The other notable point was that the elections signalled anti-incumbency for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which could bag only three wards. The polls were necessitated after sitting councillors got elected as MLAs in 2013 and 2015.

While the polls looked like a setback for the BJP, which has been ruling the MCD for close to a decade, the party achieved a vote share of 34 per cent.

While the AAP, which has been at loggerheads with the BJP over control of the three civic bodies, has now got notable presence in the MCD, the party was aspiring to win all 13 seats.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “MCD ruled by BJP-Cong. Outsider AAP wins max seats in byelection. Thnx Delhi for reaffirming faith. Ab MCD election mein sabhi seat jeetni hai.” (Will now have to win all seats in MCD polls 2017).

The Congress’ comeback was a surprise as it comes in the wake of its dismal performance in the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections. The credit for the party’s revival is ascribed to Delhi Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Maken.

In the last MCD poll in 2012, the Congress had not won any of the 13 wards that went to poll.

In comparison to its vote share in the 2015 Assembly polls, the Congress has done well with 24 per cent vote share, a far cry when compared with 9.7 per cent recorded then.

An ebullient Maken tweeted “Congress is no 1. Taking a dig at the AAP, Maken said even the Delhi government’s ad blitz could not save the party and very soon it would meet the same fate as the BJP’s much-hyped ‘Indian Shining’ campaign.

Maken ascribed the victory to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s efforts at engaging with local issues. During the agitation of sanitation workers in the capital, Gandhi had visited them twice and also taken up slum dwellers’ problems.

The AAP won from Matiala, Tekhand, Nanakpura, Vikas Nagar and Ballimaran wards. The Congress won Quamaruddin Nagar, Munirka, Khichripur, Jhilmil and Bhat wards, while the BJP bagged Wazirpur, Nawada and Shalimar Bagh (North).