NEW DELHI: The BJP on Wednesday eased to victory in seven of 12 seats in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) by-polls, adding to its dominant win in the February Assembly election. The AAP, dumped out of power by the BJP 10 months ago after over a decade in power, finished a distant second with three seats.
And a struggling Congress did what it could not do earlier this year, that is win a seat. The 12th seat went to the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB). Interestingly, of the seven BJP winners, six were women. According to the State Election Commission, the BJP secured a vote share of 45.09%, while the AAP and the Congress managed 34.97% and 13.44%, respectively.
The results were a mixed bag for the AAP, which previously held three of the 12 wards. The party lost the minority-dominated Chandni Mahal and Chandni Chowk wards, while managing victories in Mundka, Dakshinpuri, and Naraina. For the BJP, reclaiming the prestigious Chandni Chowk ward was a symbolic win.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta thanked voters on X, calling the victory a strong testament to the tireless hard work of its workers and to the organisation’s dedication and collective strength. Party leaders, including Delhi minister Kapil Mishra, blamed the AAP’s setbacks on its “corruption” record.
The BJP not only retained the Shalimar Bagh B ward, previously represented by Gupta herself, but also did so with a resounding margin of over 10,000 votes, the largest in these bypolls. In Shalimar Bagh B, Anita Jain won by 10,101 votes, surpassing the 7,990-vote margin Gupta achieved in 2022. In Dwarka B, previously held by BJP MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat, the party held its ground with Manisha Devi defeating AAP’s Raj Bala by 9,100 votes. The 2022 margin in this ward had been 6,877 votes.
Some wards saw tight contests. Naraina went to AAP’s Rajan Arora by just 148 votes, overturning the BJP’s previous hold.
Ashok Vihar saw BJP’s Veena Asija narrowly edge out AAP’s Seema Goyal by 405 votes. The AAP has alleged that it won the seat after 10 rounds of counting, but during the recount, surprisingly, the seat went to the BJP candidate. Former AAP MLA Rajesh Gupta, who had wanted his wife to contest the ward, had recently switched to the BJP.
Mundka witnessed a reversal, with AAP’s Anil winning 11,740 votes against BJP’s Jai Pal’s 10,163. But the AAP faced major upsets in Chandni Chowk and Chandni Mahal. In Chandni Mahal, the AAP had to settle for second place, as All India Forward Bloc’s (AIFB) Mohammad Imran won by a margin of 4,692 votes. The AAP had fielded Mudassar Usman from the seat, while its former MLA and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal’s father, Shoaib Iqbal, wanted a ticket for his brother-in-law.
The former MLA quit the party and supported the AIFB candidate. In a Hindi post on X, Aalay Mohammad Iqbal described the victory as the triumph of trust and attributed it to the love his father receives from the people of the area. Chandni Chowk, vacated after AAP’s Punardeep Singh Sawhney became an MLA, was taken by BJP’s Suman Kumar Gupta, who beat AAP’s Harsh Sharma by 1,182 votes.
ON THE HIGHEST END
The BJP has won Shalimar Bagh B ward, previously represented by CM Rekha Gupta, by securing a highest victory margin among 12 wards. Anita Jain won against AAP’s Babita Rana by a margin of 10,101 votes.
OUTCLASSED THINLY
AAP’s Rajan Arora wrested Naraina from the BJP, which had won it in the previous polls, by a slender margin of 148 votes. Umang Bajaj had won the seat in 2022 elections with a total margin of 3,740 votes.
OPENING ACCOUNT
All India Forward Bloc candidate Mohammad Imran won the Chandni Mahal ward by defeating AAP’s Mudassar Usman by a margin of 4,692 votes. Former MLA Shoaib Iqbal quit AAP & supported AIFB candidate.
