MCD polls: AAP sees vote share dip 12%, fares poorly in wards in ministers' seats

AVINASH PRABHAKAR

New Delhi, Dec 7 (IANS) Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday won a comfortable majority in the city civic body, but while it was successful in dethroning the BJP after its 15-year-long reign, it performed poorly in wards in senior leaders' constituencies.

Apart from this, the other concern for the party is that it has lost around 12 per cent of vote share since the last Assembly polls. In the 2020 Assembly elections, the AAP secured 53.75 per cent vote share, while in the MCD polls, the party has bagged 42 per cent and the BJP's vote share increased by about 3 per cent.

The senior leaders in whose constituencies the AAP has not been able to make much headway include Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, jailed minister Satyendar Jain, minister and Delhi state convenor Gopal Rai, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Imran Hussain, as well as senior leaders Amanullah Khan and Saurabh Bhardwaj.

Sisodia's Patparganj constituency has four wards. However, the party has won one ward only and the BJP the other three - the same as in 2017.

Jain, who has been in jail for over six months now on allegations of money laundering, is the MLA from Shakur Basti, which has three wards - Saraswati Vihar, Paschim Vihar and Rani Bagh. All three were won by the BJP, just like in 2017.

Gahlot is the MLA from Najafgarh constituency whose all three wards have been clinched by the BJP. Rai's Babarpur also has four wards - but the AAP has secured only one, while two went to the BJP and one to the Congress.

Similarly in Amanullah Khan's Okhla constituency, the BJP has won two wards, the Congress two and the AAP only one.

Of AAP spokesperson Bhardwaj's Greater Kailash constituency, the party has won two of the three wards and the BJP has won one.

In Ballimaraan constituency of Hussain, the AAP succeeded in securing two wards and BJP one.

However, the AAP has achieved comfortable majority by securing 134 seats, an increase of 86 seats from last time when it got only 48 seats. In 2017, the BJP had won 181 seats of the then total 270 seats coming under Delhi's three civic bodies. This time the party has won 104 seats.