BJP wins in Delhi's Rajouri Assembly seat bypoll, AAP loses deposit, Congress relieved
NEW DELHI: Resounding victory of BJP in Rajouri Garden Assembly seat in Delhi ahead of municipal polls has come as a huge boost for the BJP and has given AAP more reasons to worry. In a severe jolt to AAP which is still struggling to get over the humiliating defeats in Punjab and Goa, the party finished a poor third, forfeiting its deposit. Meanwhile, the result has come as a major relief for the Congress which has again gained the trust of its supporters in Delhi.
Victory on the Rajouri Garden assembly seat has given more reasons to smile for the state unit of BJP as the party leaders believe that Modi wave which swept the Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand state polls is also ruling high in adjoining Delhi and it will have its impact in the MCD polls which is just ten days away.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said that results have again shown Modi Wave is ruling high. “Arvind Kejriwal should now understand that it is not EVM but people who give verdict in a democracy,” added Tiwari taking a dig at AAP.
Moreover, the by-poll result in which AAP came to third position has clearly shown the Delhi’s disillusionment towards Arvind Kejriwal led AAP which had registered a historic victory in the 2015 assembly polls by winning 67 out of 70 assembly seats.
A senior leader in the state BJP unit said that the result has given hope to the party which has fielded all new faces in this municipal poll to fight the two-term anti-incumbency. “The mood is quite upbeat after the result. Our only fear was only two term anti-incumbency. But, the results has made this clear that the fight will be only between the two party, BJP and Congress, and we will emerge winner due to the Modi wave,” he said adding that the number of votes that BJP has got in the by-poll is more than what congress and AAP together have got.
BJP Akali candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa polled 40,602 thousand of the total 1.68 lakh votes, thus bagging about 52 per cent votes. BJP polled more votes than Congress and AAP put together. While Meenakshi Chandela of Congress polled 25,950 (33 per cent) votes, Harjeet Singh of AAP bagged just 10,243 (13 per cent) votes.
Moreover, this result in which AAP candidate failed to save his deposit has also proved that people have not accepted Arvind Kejriwal’s confrontational style of politics and his strategy to always be in limelight by slamming PM Modi and Centre on some or other issues. Rather, it has only worked against him and his party which is now in deliberation mood for the civic body polls. Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia said, “We will pull up our socks in the upcoming polls and also try to convince the people of Rajouri Garden.”
While conceding defeat, Sisodia also admitted that people were upset with the party over its legislator quitting to contest from Punjab.
The result has given much relief to the Congress which had not managed to win even a single seat in 2015 assembly polls in Delhi. It has proved that the grand old party is regaining the voters who had polled for AAP in the 2015 Assembly election. Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken agreed that the Congress staged a turnaround of sorts by getting around 33 per cent of the total votes cast, in a jump of over 21 per cent over the 2015 Assembly polls. “It was only due to hard work by the party workers. The party is going to make a comeback in MCD polls,” said Maken.
For the AAP, the slide in vote share has been steep, from 47 per cent in 2015 to 13 per cent in the current one. The BJP's share has increased from 38 per cent in 2015 to 52 per cent in 2017.
In the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, Jarnail Singhof AAP had polled 54,916 (46.55 per cent) of the the total 1.63 lakh electors. Shiromani Akali Dal's Manjinder Singh Sirsa had bagged 44,880 votes (38.04 per cent) while Congress' Meenakshi Chandela had got 14,167 votes (12.01 per cent).