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Journalism of Courage
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has bagged 7 wards out of 12 in the high-stakes Municipal Corporation of Delhi bypolls, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won three and the Congress got 1.
This takes the current composition of the 250-member MCD House to 122 BJP councillors, 102 AAP councillors, 9 Congress councillors, 16 from the Indraprastha Vikas Party (IVP) and one from the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB).
The BJP welcomed the result declared on Wednesday morning, with Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta saying in a post on X in Hindi: “This victory is a strong testament to the tireless hard work, dedication, and collective strength of our diligent workers and the organisation. Heartiest congratulations to all the victorious BJP candidates in the by-election…” Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday said public trust is once again returning to the party. “… In just 10 months, the public’s trust is once again rapidly returning towards the Aam Aadmi Party. Delhi is very soon returning towards positive politics and good works,” he wrote on X.
Leader of Opposition and AAP councillor Ankush Narang said the results were promising for his party: “The BJP deployed all its key faces, including CM Rekha Gupta and MPs, but still lost two of its strong seats.” MCD Mayor and BJP councillor Raja Iqbal Singh said the results reflect the people’s continued trust in the saffron party.
The highest winning margin was seen at Shalimar Bagh-B, where BJP’s Anita Jain won by a margin of 10,101 votes. This seat was vacated after Rekha Gupta, the former councillor, won the Delhi Assembly polls and took charge as Chief Minister.
The lowest winning margin was 148 in Naraina, which was won by AAP candidate Rajan Arora.
In Chandni Mahal, the winning candidate, Mohammad Imran, is former AAP MLA Shoaib Iqbal’s brother-in-law. He decided to contest from the Forward Bloc after the AAP declined to give him a ticket.
Of the 12 wards that went to polls, 9 were earlier held by the BJP and the rest by AAP. The BJP lost the Naraina and Sangam Vihar wards this time.
This was the first elections to be held in the city after the BJP won the Delhi Assembly polls in February. The AAP and the Congress were hoping to regain the lost ground in the Capital.
The wards were left vacant after the councillors were elected to the Assembly and Parliament.
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