For BJP, win crucial to hold ground in Capital
NEW DELHI: For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a victory in the MCD elections is crucial to hold on to the last outpost of power in the national Capital having faced humiliating defeats in the last two consecutive assembly elections in 2015 and 2020.
Despite winning all seven Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and 2019, the BJP managed to win just three seats in 2015 and eight seats in 2020 assembly elections.
While the party has been out of power in the Delhi government for nearly 24 years (since 1998), it has had a successful run in the municipal corporation, which provides crucial citizencentric services, for the past three consecutive terms.
The party is seeking to retain control over the now unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) that is in a much better condition financially post-unification—the Centre amended the Delhi Municipal Act, 1957, in April this year to unify the three corporations—and powerful, as it will be able to implement uniform policies throughout the city.
In 2017, the BJP managed to successfully beat a strong antiincumbency wave as it replaced all its sitting councillors and by making a strong pitch to the Purvanchali community, which plays a decisive role in Delhi politics, by appointing actor-turned politician and Northeast Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari as its state president. The party fielded 35 candidates from the community
that comprises of people from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In 2017, the BJP won 181 seats, 43 more than the last election, with a vote share of 36.08%.
Party leaders admit that it is a tough fight this time, as the party not only has to counter anti-incumbency, it is a direct contest with Aam Aadmi Party and fewer contestants on each seat.
Delhi BJP Adesh Gupta said, “Even in a direct fight, we will do better this time, as the AAP stands exposed with so many corruption cases against it in which their ministers are also involved. One of their ministers is in jail for nearly six months and has been denied bail. There are videos of him getting special treatment inside jail, but still Arvind Kejriwal has not sacked him.”
The party pulled out all stops in its campaign this time by organising its cadre on the ground as well as roping in the
top leadership to blunt the opposition attack. Party president JP Nadda held a huge rally at the historic Ramlila Maidan on October 16, and urged the party workers to go door to door to tell the people how schemes from the central government are benefitting them. Over the course of one and a half months, the party brought out Union ministers, senior party leaders and MPS to lead campaigns in the city, underlining the importance of a win in the MCD elections.
The party has its task cut out if it emerge victorious. Fixing sanitation and removing landfills will be one of the major challenges for the party, besides kick starting several infrastructure projects that have remained only on paper. The party will also have to bring in administrative reforms and stop corruption -- one of the many things that the party has blamed on the trifurcation.