Saji Chacko
NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Pary (AAP) won a clear majority in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections with 134 seats. The BJP came second with 104, while the Congress was a distant third with nine seats in the 250-member civic body polls, the results of which were declared on December 7.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked the people for AAP’s victory and sought the cooperation of the BJP and the Congress as well as the “blessings” of the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve civic amenities in the national Capital. Though it was not a landslide for the AAP, as predicted by exit polls, the party managed to dethrone the BJP, which has been in power for the last 15 years. There were many interesting aspects about the outcome of the MCD elections. For the first time, a transgender became a councilor when Bobi, representing AAP, won the Sultanpuri-A ward by a margin of 6,714 votes.
2Another notable aspect of these elections was that that in the Assembly constituencies of Delhi ministers, the AAP suffered losses. For instance, in Deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s Patparganj seat, AAP lost in three out of the four wards. The BJP won three wards, while the ruling party could win only one. It was a similar story in Shakur Basti, the constituency of Satyender Jain, where AAP lost all the three wards. In Gopal Rai’s constituency of Barbarpur, the AAP could manage to win only one ward, while the BJP won two and the Congress came victorious in the remaining one.
A closer look at the results shows that the AAP managed to hold the sway in majorly middle-class constituencies. The party’s wins in Andrews Ganj, Lajpat Nagar, Malviya Nagar and Mayur Vihar prove this point. On the other hand, the BJP managed to dominate areas like Greater Kailash, Vasant Kunj, Punjabi Bagh and Rajouri Garden.
Another interesting aspect was that the BJP managed to do well in Poorvanchali-dominated areas, like Sonia Vihar, Karawal Nagar East, Karawal Nagar West and Nehru Vihar.
The minority-dominated areas delivered a mixed verdict – while the Congress prevailed in areas of North East Delhi and Okhla, the AAP won in Ballimaran, Chandni Mahal and Delhi Gate.
