TWO days after the MCD poll results, the mood in the vanquished BJP camp on Friday appeared one of realism, a climb-down of sorts from the growing pitch for having the party councillor as the mayor.
State BJP chief Adesh Gupta said the top MCD post “belongs to AAP as the mandate is in their favour.”
The Delhi BJP said it would play the role of ‘strong opposition in the local body. Until yesterday, the dominant voice within the BJP camp was that the party would not hesitate to get the support of any councillor to keep the top post. Many party leaders cited the absence of anti-defection law in the MCD rulebook to strengthen their claim about councillor coming along and accepting the party mayor.
The saffron U-turn brought smiles back to the AAP camp. MCD in charge of AAP and Delhi MLA Durgesh Pathak called the BJP decision a good gesture. “The mandate is in AAP’s favour. The BJP has to sit in opposition. They should be a constructive opposition in MCD,”said Pathak.
On Friday, Gupta was circumspect. “The BJP will serve the people of Delhi by becoming a strong opposition and will expose corruption linked to AAP in the corporation in the way they did in the Delhi government,” he said.
He accused the Congress ofplaying a “friendly match” with the AAP in the MCD polls. Gupta referred to BJP increasing its vote percentage in the elections by 3% in comparison with the 2017 elections. “We
had a 36.08% vote share. This time, it has increased to 39.09%,” he said.
He said CM Kejriwal and AAP stood “exposed” due to JP’s anti-corruption campaign. “People have rejected AAP candidates in the assembly segment of Manish Sisodia. The situation was just the same in
the assembly constituency of incarcerated Delhi minister Satyendar Jain,” he said.
BJP leaders said that in many seats the party won by a small margin. He expressed his gratitude to the people of Delhi for showing respect for the services the party has rendered with dedication and determination. “Compared to the last time, the only visible change is that the Congress has bowed before the AAP,” said a BJP leader.