Ending 15 years of BJP’s hegemony, Aam Aadmi Party captured the Civic Centre, winning 134 seats in the 250-member reunified Municipal Corporation of Delhi and people’s confidence. Even though exit polls had forecast a landslide victory, the AAP workers went into a frenzy after the result.
Facing a strong anti-incumbency, BJP put up a spirited fight and managed to bag 104 seats, much less than its 2017 tally of 181 in the three erstwhile corporations combined, but its vote share swelled by three percentage points. The Congress managed to get 9 seats. The saffron party got 39. 1% of the total votes polled while AAP’s share doubled from 21. 1% in the last civic election to 42. 1%, according to the State Election Commission data.
Speaking after the victory, AAP national convener and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “blessings” and the Centre’s support to “clean” and make Delhi better.
Even with a relatively small 30-seat advantage over the BJP, the work won't be any simpler for an AAP-led MCD, which would have to overhaul the city's waste management, offer better services, and root out corruption.
Both the BJP and AAP engaged in active campaigning in the lead-up to the elections. While the latter persistently criticised AAP and used a number of national figures, including union ministers, to campaign for its candidates, Kejriwal's party pledged to implement the Delhi model of government in MCD.
While conceding defeat, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said despite 15 years of anti-incumbency, the party’s performance was far better than expected. “We worked for the people of Delhi but maybe some people were not happy. But there was no anger against BJP,” Gupta said.
Political scientists believe AAP shifted the political discourse “from ideology to service providing” and the electorate stamped its approval on it by giving it a clear majority.
