Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken quits; AAP Convenor Dilip Pandey offers to resign
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stormed back to power in the three municipal corporations in Delhi, cashing in on the anti- incumbency factor.
The three-way contest between the BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress turned out to be one-sided. The BJP won 181 out of the 270 seats that went to polls. A bye-election will be held for two wards as two candidates died before the election.
The verdict is a rejection of the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP that was a distant second with 48 seats, and the Congress lagging behind at 30 in all three corporations —North, South and East.
The BJP grabbed 36.08 per cent votes, almost retaining its vote share of 36.74 per cent in the 2012 elections. The Congress, on the other hand, faced a sharp decline, getting 21.11 per cent votes, compared to 30.50 per cent in the previous election. The new entrant got 26.23 per cent votes.
On expected lines, AAP cried foul over tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The excuse triggered turmoil within the party, with several MLAs questioning the party leadership.
"Party leaders are unnecessarily raking up the EVM issue, instead of fixing responsibility for the defeat," AAP sources said.
Sate Election Commission chief SK Srivastava stated that the
Election Commission of India has already clarified that EVMs can't be tampered with. "EVM-tampering is the bitter truth of the country's democracy. One can crack jokes on us, but we cannot refrain from speaking the truth," said Manish Sisodia, Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister.
Later in the day, Kejriwal tweeted, congratulating the BJP. While Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken resigned, taking responsibility for the humiliating defeat, there were no signals of a major shake-up in AAP, at least publicly. However, sources indicated that Kejriwal is contemplating a major churn in the cabinet and the party leadership. Delhi AAP Convenor Dilip Pandey and Alka Lamba, one of the party MLAs, offered to resign.
The Congress, on the other hand, was vocal about the failures leading to the debacle and questioned Maken's strategy. "How is it possible that posters at the time of campaign had no photos of the former chief minister," asked Sheila Dikshit .
On other hand, BJP's strategy of replacing all sitting councillors and projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their leader worked in their favour.
Taking responsibility for the party's dismal show, Congress' in- charge of Delhi affairs, PC Chacko, also resigned. The BJP kept the celebrations low-key, dedicating the victory to the CRPF bravehearts who laid down their lives fighting Maoists in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, on Monday.
"The people of Delhi have rejected negative politics, the politics of excuses," said BJP President Amit Shah.
AAP, on the other hand, insisted that it was not a victory for Modi but for EVMs. When AAP was formed in 2012, it was hailed as a 'people's movement' in Delhi, attracting crowds who hoped for a new brand of politics.
Kejriwal got an unprecedented mandate in Delhi Assembly election in 2015, bagging 67out 70 seats. The party was crushed in Punjab and Goa in the Assembly elections last month and now face a defeat in its home turf.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) managed to get three seats, Independents six, and others two. Swaraj India Party, a breakaway faction of AAP, led by Yogendra Yadav, could not open its account.
Yadav, however, gracefully accepted defeat saying, "No seat for Swaraj India was expected. No firm vote share figures yet but seems lower than expected. We need to reflect too."
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