BJP sweeps broom out in Delhi municipal polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday swept the elections to the three municipal corporations of Delhi, winning 181 wards out of the 270 that went to the polls on April 23, with the Aam Aadmi Party coming in second with 48 and the Congress following with 30.

Winning majority in each of the corporations, the BJP improved its tally from 138 in 2012, though there was a minor reduction of 0.37 % in its average vote share from 36.74 % in 2012 to 36.37 % this time.

In the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, out of the 103 wards that went to the polls, the BJP won 64, the Aam Aadmi Party 21 and the Congress 15. In the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, out of 104 wards, the BJP won 70, the AAP 16 and the Congress 12. In the East Delhi Municipal Corporation, out of 63 wards, the BJP won 47, the AAP 11 and the Congress three.

Proving that anti-incumbency was not a factor for the voters, the BJP was able to win a third consecutive term in the municipalities, beating the AAP, which contested the civic polls for the first time, and the Congress, which had been the principal opposition in the civic bodies for the past 10 years.

While the BJP’s vote share went up from the 32.19 % it got in the Delhi Assembly polls in 2015, the AAP, which swept to power in the State with 54.34% of the vote share, was reduced to 25.90%. The Congress, which got just 9.65 % of the votes in 2015, saw an increase in the municipal polls, with an overall vote share of 21.28 %. A total of 92 candidates of the Congress forfeited their security deposits, while 40 of the AAP and five of the BJP lost theirs for not securing 16 % of the total votes.

For the BJP, Wednesday’s results gave the party a “historic mandate”, according to Delhi BJP president and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari. While Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal tweeted congratulating the BJP, his deputy, Manish Sisodia raked up the EVM controversy again.

In the Congress, Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken resigned before the final results were declared. Delhi State Election Commissioner S.K. Srivastava, responding to the AAP’s charge that it was not a “Modi wave”, but an “EVM wave”, said he was satisfied with the EVMs.