The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has won four wards and the Congress one in the Delhi municipal corporation bypolls, whose results were announced on Wednesday, 3 March.
The AAP's winners included Dhirender Kumar, who won by a margin of 7,043 votes from Ward 008-E Kalyanpuri, and Sunita Mishra, who won by a margin of 2,705 votes from Ward 62N Shalimar Bagh North. The other two wards from where the party won were in Rohini and Trilokpuri.
Meanwhile, Congress' Zubair Ahmad Chaudhary won from Ward 041-E Chauhan Banger by a margin of 10,642 votes.
Of these five seats, four had been held by the AAP earlier, while one was with the BJP.
What Has AAP Said?
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal hailed the performance of his party, saying, "The people of Delhi have once again voted in the name of work. The public has been upset with the 15 years of misrule of the BJP in the MCD. The people want to establish Aam Aadmi Party's rule in the MCD as well."
Congratulating the party workers, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also said, "The people of Delhi are now fed up with the BJP's rule. In the next year's MCD elections, people will put forward Arvind Kejriwal ji's honest and hardworking politics."
Eye on 2022 Municipal Elections
Municipal elections are due in Delhi in 2022, and the Aam Aadmi Party will look to turn around its fortunes this time. The three corporations – north, south and east – have been controlled by the BJP for the last three terms.
In 2017, the saffron party scored a resounding victory, bagging over 180 seats out of the 270 up for grabs, while the AAP came a distant second with just 48 seats.
However, riding on a decisive win in the Delhi Assembly elections in February 2020, Kejriwal’s party would want the winning ways to extend to the civic body polls of 2022 as well.
Recently, the AAP also made gains in the state of Gujarat, winning 27 of the 120 seats in the Surat Municipal Corporation. The AAP's showing made it the main Opposition party against the BJP in Surat, while the Congress was left with no seats.
The party's national convener Arvind Kejriwal also paid a visit to Surat on 26 February, where he addressed party workers and spoke of the plans to make it a significant Opposition force in the state dominated by the BJP.
(With inputs from ANI.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)