Drastic drop in AAP vote share

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party registered a drastic fall in its vote share in all the 13 wards in the city’s municipal byelections in comparison to the 2015 Assembly elections in the national capital.

The BJP too saw a decrease in its vote share in five wards. However, the Congress, which registered a drastic increase in its overall voter percentage, failed to retain its vote share in two wards, where it failed to secure even 20 per cent votes in the Assembly polls. The bypoll outcome showed that the AAP had registered more than 50 per cent decrease in its vote share in Qumaruddin Nagar, Shalimar Bagh (North), Wazirpur, Vikas Nagar, Bhatti and Jhilmil wards. The BJP saw an decrease of about one per cent vote share in Vikas Nagar, about eight per cent in Munirka, about 14 per cent in Bhatti, about six per cent in Khichripur and about five per cent in Jhilmil. The Congress vote share came in Ballimaran from 17 per cent to 15.75 per cent and in Nawada from 11.38 per cent to 10.69 per cent.

Despite the AAP’s eight legislators who had won municipal elections in 2012, the party was able to retain just five wards in the just-concluded byelections. Same was the case with the BJP, which had managed to win five wards in 2012 and was reduced to register its victory in just three wards. Except for former MLA Mahender Nagpal, the BJP’s other two former MLAs Vinod Kumar Binny and Jitender Singh Shunty lost Khichripur and Jhilmil wards respectively. In the Congress, it was a major setback for former city minister Haroon Yusuf and former legislators Mukesh Sharma and Kartar Singh Tanwar to register victories for the party candidates in their respective Assembly segments.