BJP sweeps Delhi polls, a wake-up call for AAP

New Delhi: Riding the Modi wave, the Bharatiya Janata Party swept Delhi’s civic polls on Wednesday, bagging an unprecedented 181 of the 270 municipal wards. With AAP managing to win just 48 seats, and Congress trailing at the third position with 30 seats, the BJP’s victory margin is the highest ever in Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls.

“It’s a vote against negative politics,” BJP chief Amit Shah said.

A quixotic Arvind Kejriwal, unable to handle the electoral rout, continued to wage his battle against the windmills — the EVM machines.

As for the Congress, the worse perhaps is not yet over. After Congress finished a poor third, with its MCD berths dropping from 77 to a meagre 30 wards, the party’s Delhi chief Ajay Maken, and AICC in-charge of Delhi, P.C. Chako, offered to step down, taking responsibility for the MCD debacle.

Resignations also came from AAP leaders, with its Delhi unit convenor, Dilip Pandey, and party functionary, Alka Lamba offering to quit over the drubbing.

Winning MCD polls was crucial for the BJP after its total rout in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections. The victory is being viewed as the BJP’s return to the national Capital. The results are a clear indication that the BJP managed to re-establish its connect (after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls) with Poorvanchalis, the middle class and a considerable section of voters in the jhuggi-jhopdi clusters.

The victory not only reiterated “Modi magic”, but is a major boost for the party in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit was the only Opposition leader to admit on a television channel, “Yes, there is a BJP wave.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Grateful to the people of Delhi for the faith in BJP. I laud the hardwork of team @BJP4Delhi which made the resounding MCD win possible.”

As TV headlines screamed — “Modi demolishes Kejri’wal”, the AAP bandwagon continued to vent their wrath on the EVM machines. Delhi’s deputy chief minister, Manish Sisodia, ranted, “EVM manipulation is the bitter truth behind the crushing blow to the AAP in the municipal polls.” However, not everyone in the party fell for Mr Kejriwal’s crusade against the EVMs.

As BJP marched towards a historic win in the MCD polls Wednesday morning, Bhagwant Mann, AAP’s MP from Punjab, breaking his silence since Punjab election results were announced on March 11, said: “AAP lost Punjab as the leadership committed grave blunders.”

Reports from Punjab stated that Mr Mann was looking at various options and would take a final call after his return from the United States. “I am leaving for United States to meet my children. I will take a call on my future political move after returning in May-end,” he told the local media.

The defeat in the MCD polls, soon after it lost Punjab and Goa Assembly polls, has added to the AAP’s kitty of woes.

If AAP had won the MCD polls, the victory could have helped resurrect Mr Kejriwal’s ambition to play a key role in Opposition politics during the 2019 general elections.

Early in the day, when AAP was heading for a major defeat, Mr Kejriwal’s mentor-turned-rival and anti-corruption crusader, Anna Hazare, told a news agency, “Kathni aur karni mein antar pad gaya hai (There is a world of difference between what they preach and what they practise)”.

For Congress too “the cup of woe brimmeth over,” as a senior functionary quipped. After the crushing defeat in Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, and losing out to the BJP in Goa and Manipur, a beleaguered Congress had pinned its hopes on the MCD polls. But with the party sliding down from 74 wards to 30, it is going to be a Herculean task to match up to the BJP and Mr Modi in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

Resentment continued to brew against party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who has repeatedly failed to deliver for his party.  The Congress tried to cover its drubbing with the vote share argument, saying that it had remained intact.

While the BJP led with a massive 36.08 per cent vote share, AAP was second with 26.23 per cent and Congress third with 21.09 per cent.

Ms Dikshit also said on the TV channel, “It’s the people’s mandate, accept it gracefully.”