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Journalism of Courage
The Bharatiya Janata Party has swept the elections to all three municipal corporations in the national Capital–South MCD, North MCD and East MCD. Congress faced a humiliating defeat after which its Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Maken stepped down from his position taking moral responsibility. The lack of an effective election strategy and internal fighting seemed to be the undoing for the party. While the BJP showed an impressive poll savvy to claim victory, it was evident that the Congress was caught out of its depth in these elections.
The last time Congress won the MCD polls was in 2002, 10 years before the body was trifurcated. During those elections, a relatively unorganised Bharatiya Janata Party had to taste defeat.
The MCD polls took place just after a historic victory by the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. What was going for Congress was their victory in Punjab and respectable showing in Goa and Manipur. However, the way the BJP pipped them into forming their own government, it was a sign of an arguable lackadaisical attitude of the Congress which failed to use the mandate.
Delhi MCD election results 2017 live updates
The BJP has always had the support of the upper middle class and the middle class voters. In these elections, it was able to eat into the AAP’s aam aadmi vote bank. The party rode on the clean image of PM Modi while Congress effectively pointed out the loopholes in MCD and Delhi government’s administration. Eyeing Poorvanchali votes, BJP played a masterstroke by appointing MP Manoj Tiwari as its Delhi chief.
In the last assembly elections, Sheila Dikshit was ousted by the then newcomer Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party. After that result, she resigned. Maken was handed the reins by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi who was his old-time supporter. Maken had also served as a Union Minister in the UPA government.
The electorate would have noticed the lack of confidence in the Delhi Congress itself. Maken had tweeted to his followers and his party’s workers that the Congress is the dark horse in these elections. Now even if it was an honest acknowledgement that they didn’t stand a chance to win outright, it would’ve been a deal breaker for the voters who would be looking to elect a municipal body strong in its own position.
Events like defection of strongman Arvinder Singh Lovely and Delhi Mahila Congress chief Barkha Shukla to BJP further dented the party’s chance in the elections. Shukla’s comments on Rahul Gandhi where she called the party’s de facto national head as “mentally unfit” showed that Maken was unable to hold his unit together.
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