The BJP’s juggernaut continued to steamroller its opponents in the battle of ballots with the party winning 181 seats out of 270 wards in the election to three municipal corporations in Delhi on Wednesday. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) finished distant second with 48 seats, while the Congress managed to grab just 30 seats.
The corporation-wise tally for the BJP is South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) 70, North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) 64 and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) 47 as against AAP’s 16, 21 and 11 respectively. The Congress finished last with 12, 15 and 3 wards in SDMC, NMC and EDMC respectively. It may be recalled that the BJP had won 138 wards in the 2012 municipal elections.
BJP’s spectacular win came barely two years after its humiliating defeat in 2015 Delhi Assembly polls at the hands of the AAP, catapulted to power with a staggering 67 of 70 Assembly seats. This time, however, the AAP was not invincible as the BJP regained ground in two years to hand out a severe drubbing to Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP.
Crushing defeat in the high octane municipal polls came as a huge embarrassment for the AAP after back-to-back poor show in the Punjab and Goa Assembly polls, and the Rajouri Garden Assembly bypoll. The crushing defeat has plunged the AAP into a crisis against the backdrop of the Opposition treating it as a “referendum” on the Kejriwal Government.
Though the MCD polls are local in nature, the win is the latest in a series of BJP election victories credited largely to Modi. The win has also boosted the BJP’s prospects for the 2019 lok Sabha elections and could act as a dampener to efforts of Opposition parties to stop the Modi’s juggernaut.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed gratitude to the people of Delhi for reposing their faith in the BJP and ensuring its resounding victory in the MCD polls.
“Grateful to the people of Delhi for the faith in BJP. I laud the hardwork of team @BJP4Delhi which made the resounding MCD win possible,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
As the BJP registered a landslide win in the MCD polls, party president Amit Shah said the people of Delhi have rejected “negative politics” and put their seal of approval on the Prime Minister’s leadership.
“This is an unprecedented win for the BJP. I express my gratitude to the people of Delhi. This is the victory of (Prime Minister Narenda) Modiji’s leadership”, he told newspersons at Kolkata.
The thumping win for the BJP prompted Union Ministers and senior Ministers to hit out at AAP leaders for blaming EVMs for their party’s lost in the MCD and recently held Assembly polls.
Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the AAP should not give the excuse of EVM manipulation for its defeat in the municipal elections as these were the same machines through which it had stormed to power in Delhi in 2015.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had earlier said that “manipulation” of EVMs was the “bitter truth” behind the crushing blow to the AAP in the municipal polls.
In an apparent dig at the AAP, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said BJP’s impressive show in the MCD polls is a “lesson” for those crying foul over EVMs and asked it to respect people’s mandate.
BJP’s victory is a “clean sweep” against politics of “anarchy and arrogance”, said Naqvi. “lesson & message for ‘EVM Vilaap Mandli’- Instead of blaming EVM, respect people’s mandate & do introspection, he said.
“#DelhiMCDpolls-Clean sweep against politics of anarchy, arrogance. Results reflect people’s passion for inclusive growth, good-governance,” Naqvi tweeted.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, the brains behind the party’s “AAP se na ho ga” (AAP can’t do it) campaign, also credited the victory to Modi and his developmental policies.
Tiwari called for Kejriwal’s resignation, saying “the people of Delhi have exercised their right to recall” by voting against the AAP, which rode to power more than two years ago, winning 67 of the 70 legislative seats in the Delhi Assembly polls.
The poor showing is seen as a setback for Kejriwal, as the civic elections were largely viewed as a referendum on his two-year-old rule. Kejriwal congratulated the BJP, and said he is looking “forward to working with MCDs for the betterment of Delhi”.
With this, the AAP’s grip over the national Capital will considerably weaken, in terms of perception if not numbers, as it will not dent its comfortable majority in the 70-member Delhi Assembly.
Meanwhile, the BJP dedicated its impending win to the slain CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district and decided to refrain from any celebrations.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said that every heart is filled with grief over Monday’s killing of 25 CRPF men by Naxals in Sukma and the party will not celebrate the victory. “But for the Sukma incident, we would be on the streets celebrating this massive victory. We dedicate this win in the feet of Sukma martyrs,” he said.