NEW DELHI: As projected by most exit polls, the BJP today was set to sweep the Delhi civic polls, in a contest that was widely watched nationally, coming as it did in the wake of a ‘BJP wave’ in recent Assembly elections.
As of mid-afternoon, the incumbent BJP had won 118 wards, and was on its way to a two-third majority. It has controlled the MCD for over a decade.
For the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is currently at second spot, it was a disappointing loss, coming as it did on top of a poor showing in the Punjab polls and a worse performance in the Goa polls. AAP had won 29 wards.
The Congress was trailing at third spot, having been unable to sustain its buoyant win in the Punjab polls. It won 20 wards.
As many as 2,537 candidates contested for elections to the three civic bodies on Sunday. The polls saw a 53.53% voter turnout, better than the previous occasion. And like before, unauthorised colonies, slum clusters and areas on the periphery of Delhi voted in large numbers with the urban areas giving a lukewarm response, PTI reported.
AAP tried to pin BJP down on its record of running the three corporations for many years. However, the latter managed to counter any fallout of anti-incumbency with its strategy of putting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision at the centre of its campaign. It also didn’t give tickets to its sitting corporators to address charges of “incompetence”.
Most successfully, though, the BJP managed to caste the civic polls as a referendum on the AAP government, putting it on the back foot throughout the campaign.
On its part, AAP promised it will scrap property tax, but the move ended up looking like a cheap poll gimmick. It also couldn’t successfully sway voters towards it by highlighting what it called “insanitary conditions” in the Capital – which the BJP-administered corporations were responsible for – which it blamed for the outbreak of malaria, dengue and chikungunya.
AS for the Congress, it junked old war horse Sheila Dixit and put Ajay Maken in charge of the Delhi unit. In turn, Maken presented the Congress as the best alternative to the BJP which had run the civic bodies for over 10 years, as well as to AAP which was in government. The Congress said both stalled development work in the Capital.
“BJP has accepted that its civic leaders were corrupt by not giving tickets to sitting councillors. The corporations were deep in corruption under the nose of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but he didn’t take any action. He suddenly realised the truth while distributing tickets,” Maken said.
Still, voters remained unconvinced, although Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said the party improved its vote share from before.
The BJP, which beat anti-incumbency, said its win was a thumbs up for governance and a rejection of negative politics. AAP said it was a win for “tampered with electronic voting machines (EVMs). And the Congress said it expected to perform better but didn’t, for which Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken took responsibility and quit his post.
BJP president Amit Shah credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the MCD win.
“Voters have rejected negative politics and the party has won under the leadership of PM Modi,” Shah said.
“BJP is the only viable option available for voters and that is why the party has been given mandate at every level,” Union minister Jitendra Singh told ANI.
Some BJP leaders said Delhi chief minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal should quit.
“Arvind Kejriwal must resign, BJP will clean Delhi in four months,” said the BJP’s Manoj Tiwari.
AAP, which started finding fault with EVMs even before the polls, squarely blamed them for the loss.
“MCD trends in favour of BJP prove EVM tampering,” said AAP spokesman Ashutosh. Another of his party colleagues Nagendar Sharma similarly tweeted:
After the five assembly elections, it was BSP chief Mayawati who alleged that EVMs were tampered with. That allegation was then picked by other parties.
“This is not a (Narendra) Modi wave, this is an EVM wave. This is the same wave that they (BJP) used in the Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Punjab polls,” said AAP leader Gopal Rai again today.
As for the Congress, it expected to do a tad better, given its decent performance in the recent bypoll in Rajouri Garden, but it was not to be.
Ajay Maken took responsibility for the loss and offered to quit the post of Delhi Congress chief.
“It is a reasonable revival of the Congress but I had hoped for something better than this. I had expected to perform a little better,” he said, adding that he will now dedicate himself to party work.
Former Congress Delhi chief minister Dixit blamed the lack of involvement of the local leadership for the civic polls debacle.
“The party was not able to reach out (to voters) the way we should have. Any excuse can be given when you don’t want to do anything. The decision has to be taken by the high command. The leadership needs to introspect,” she said.
The former Delhi chief minister rued that Maken failed to involve senior leaders including her in campaigning for the polls.
“I was not asked for campaigning then how could have I gone for it,” Dikshit said.
Bureau Report
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