AMN
Aam Aadmi Party wins four wards while Congress bags remaining one in Delhi Municipal Corporation by-polls.
AAP registered victory in Kalyanpuri, Shalimar Bagh North, Trilokpuri and Rohini-C wards. Congress won Chauhan Banger seat in East Delhi Municipal Corporation.
In Kalyanpuri, AAP’s Dhirender Kumar won by 7,043 votes and AAP’s Vijay Kumar defeated BJP’s Om Prakash by a margin of 4,986 votes in Trilokpuri. In Shalimar Bagh, AAP’s Sunita Mishra defeated Surbhi Jaju of the BJP by 2,705 votes. The seat was earlier held by the BJP. Ram Chander of the AAP defeated BJP candidate Rakesh Goyal by 2,985 votes in Rohini-C ward.
“I congratulate Delhi and our party workers. These results are a proof that people have shown trust in us, and the good work we have done. People have got so exasperated with the BJP in 15 years, they’ve given the party a zero. All around the city, the (BJP-ruled) Municipal Corporation of Delhi is responsible for the mess,” the Chief Minister Kejriwal said.
“Today’s results predict what will happen next year. To our winning candidates, I will say, please stay humble. We’re waiting for an opportunity to clean Delhi,” he added.
In a tweet, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had congratulated his party and wrote: “Congratulations to the Aam Aadmi Party workers on winning 4 out of 5 seats in the MCD by-election. People of Delhi are fed up of the BJP’s rule. In next year’s MCD election, people will vote for @ArvindKejriwal’s honest politics.”
The BJP – a relatively weak opposition in the Delhi Assembly – has been controlling all three of the national capital’s municipal bodies after the 2017 victory.
The bypolls, however, saw the AAP scoring an impressive win.
The AAP had controlled four of these five seats that were vacated after the sitting councillors were elected as MLAs. The fifth was held by the BJP’s Renu Jaju, who died in 2019. The two parties had traded accusations of improper development in the city.
“We honour the mandate given by people. Losing Shalimar Bagh North is a matter of introspection. The shortcomings will be removed and I am sure BJP will win the elections for three municipal corporations in 2022,” said Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta. Responding to the results, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today told reporters: “I just want to say… whoever had the seat got it back.”