NEW DELHI: If the results of municipal bypolls in the national capital are anything to go by, it should set the alarm bells ringing for the BJP, which has been in power in three civic bodies for about 14 years. The saffron unit failed to win a single seat in the by-elections for five wards. Not only it failed to make any gains but also lost the Shalimar Bagh-North ward—a seat which has been its stronghold—by a margin of 2,705 votes.
These by-elections were being regarded as a semifinal before the full-fledged municipal elections. The leaders of three principal political parties in the city suggest that results would decide the course of elections early next year. A senior Delhi BJP functionary said that while the bypolls shouldn’t be seen as the precursor to municipal elections but the defeat is certainly a concern for the party. “It indicates that we could not reach out to the people in an effective manner.
The AAP frequently makes fake claims but our leadership failed to convey this to the voters. The party couldn’t counter AAP’s propaganda competently,” said the leader, who requested anonymity. Responding to the poor show, Delhi BJP president Adesh Kumar Gupta said the party would introspect and adopt a new strategy for the upcoming elections. “We will see what went wrong and try to rectify it.
But the fact is that our workers did hard work despite a negative campaign by the AAP and its government on the functioning of the municipal corporations,” he said. The bypolls were the first electoral contest under the leadership of Gupta, who was elavated to the post last year. While the AAP managed to win four wards—Kalyanpuri, Trilokpuri, Rohini C, and Shalimar Bagh, Congress stumped the ruling party in the Delhi government by snatching Chauhan Banger seat from it.
Chauhan Banger, with a significant Muslim population, is located close to the Jaffrabad area in northeast Delhi, which had witnessed rampant communal violence last year in February following the series of protests held by groups against and in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The Congress is certainly elated with the outcome as its vote share in five wards has increased by six per cent.
Delhi Congress president Chaudhary Anil Kumar said that the residents want the Congress back in power and the results are their emphatic response to the corruption and misrule of the BJP in three municipal corporations and the AAP government, which has been driving Delhi to ruins. AAP leader Durgesh Pathak also trained his guns on the BJP leaders for their dismal performance. “There is no power bigger than the people in a democracy and if the BJP has zero seats today, it has been vanquished. It is a clear message from the people. The BJP has lost its case in the people’s court,” he said.