AAP goes all out to end BJP's 15-year run, turning MCD polls into high-stakes battle

AVINASH PRABHAKAR

New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) After seven years of remaining in power as the main party and ruling the national capital Delhi, the stakes on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are high to end the 15-year rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the MCD. This is the second time that the party is fighting a full fledged election for the MCD after its formation.

The AAP entered the MCD election fray for the first time in 2017 and managed to win 49 wards. Despite losing the election to the BJP, the party managed to replace the Congress as the main opposition. The Congress had registered victory on only 31 wards in the 2017 civic polls.

However, this time the MCD election has become like the 'Game of Thrones' for both the AAP and the BJP. If the AAP wins the election, the party will rule the MCD for the first time since its formation and the much hyped excuse of a funding crisis can be addressed as the party will be in power in both the assembly and the MCD. If the BJP wins the MCD election, it will create a record of ruling the civic body for the fourth time in a row. So, the stakes for both the AAP and the BJP are high in this MCD election.

The BJP has been able to win the civic body polls three times in a row in 2007, 2012 and 2017 and is ruling the MCD for the last 15 years. Taking a look at the MCD seat sharing, the BJP won 164 seats and took the MCD from the Congress that got only 67 wards in 2007. However, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) was also in the foray and managed to win 17 wards while others got 24 seats in that election.

In the 2012 MCD election, the BJP managed to win again though the party lost 26 wards and registered victory on only 138 seats. The main opposition Congress gained 10 wards and won a total of 77 seats. And, the others managed to win 57 wards which also included the BSP's 15 seats.

It was the first election after the MCD was divided into three bodies under the UPA 2 regime. The AAP was not in the foray that year.

In the 2017 civic polls, the BJP again came into power with 181 seats, a gain of 43 seats from the 2012 election. However, an important factor that must be underlined here is that after the entry of the AAP into the political landscape of Delhi, the election patterns for the MCD changed drastically. As the MCD used to be bipolar earlier, after the AAP's entry it became tripolar - BJP, Congress and AAP.

In this election, the AAP for the first time won 49 seats and the BJP gained 43 seats. The additional wards of the BJP and the AAP was of course a major blow to the Congress as it lost 46 seats and managed to win only 31 wards, emerging as the third party in the MCD. The AAP replaced Congress both in terms of seats and vote share.

The BSP also lost 12 wards and could manage to win only three wards, two in east Delhi - Gharoli and Seelampur - and one in north Delhi - Rohini C in 2017. However, the BSP seems to be missing after that election in Delhi's political landscape.

Looking at the zone wise performance of both the parties in 2017, the BJP won the highest number of 70 wards in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) with a vote share of 34.87 per cent, while the AAP managed to win only 16 wards with a 26.44 per cent vote share.

In the NDMC, the BJP won 64 wards with 35.63 per cent vote share, the AAP has 21 wards with a 27.88 per cent vote share. The BJP won 47 wards with a 38.61 per cent vote share while the AAP has 12 seats with a 23.40 per cent vote share. The Congress got 16 wards with 21 per cent, 12 wards with 20.29 vote share and 3 wards with 22.84 share respectively in the NDMC, SDMC and EDMC.