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The poll results for Delhi’s three municipal corporations came as a rude shock to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday as his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lost spectacularly to the BJP only two years after it had trounced the saffron party in the Assembly elections.
According to trends and results that were still pouring in till late evening, the BJP was leading or had won in about 181 out of the 270 wards for which elections were held on April 23.
AAP was a distant second with about 48 wards in its kitty, while the Congress had secured about 30 wards till trends last came in.
The BJP, which ran a combative campaign against Kejriwal, who has been at loggerheads with the Centre all through his two-year tenure, described it as symbolic of the people’s faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and rejection of the Delhi Chief Minister’s “negative politics”.
“This is an unprecedented victory for the BJP. I express my gratitude to the people of Delhi. This is the victory of Modiji’s leadership,” Amit Shah told reporters in Kolkata. “It is a rejection of the politics of negativity and making excuses for non-performance,” he added.
‘EVMs tampered’ The AAP, however, blamed its loss on widespread tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) to favour the BJP, declaring that there was no reason for the people of Delhi to vote for that party.
Later, Kejriwal congratulated the BJP. “I congratulate BJP on their victory in all three MCDs. My government looks forward to working with MCDs for the betterment of Delhi,” he tweeted.
The Congress’s descent into political irrelevance continued with the party relegated to the third spot in the civic elections. The Congress’s city chief Ajay Maken offered to resign in the wake of criticism and prominent desertions of former MLA and Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and Youth Congress leader Amit Malik to the BJP.
The BJP’s share was 64, 47 and 70, respectively, in the North, East and South Delhi Municipal Corporations, while the AAP secured 21, 11 and 16 wards, respectively. The Congress was set to get 15, 3 and 11 , respectively.
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