AAP Wins MCD Polls, Kejriwal thanks the people

NEW DELHI- The Arvind Kejriwal-led party AAP has won the elections to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD Election), dislodging the BJP from power after 15 years. The party has won 132 seats, well past the halfway mark in the 250-member civic body, as against the BJP’s 104. Congress has won from nine wards. Votes are still being counted.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked the people for AAP’s victory and sought the cooperation of the BJP and the Congress as well as the “blessings” of the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve civic amenities here. Addressing party workers at the headquarters, Kejriwal said, “Will try to live up to expectations of people, urge parties to come together to improve Delhi.”

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With 250 wards in the MCD, a party needs 126 to win. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has gotten hold of 104 seats so far, has bucked the trend predicted by exit polls. No exit poll showed the party getting more than 91 seats. Independent candidate Shakeela Begum has won the Seelampur seat, while Meena Devi and Gajender Singh Daral have won the Isapur and Mundka seats, respectively.

Elections to the 250 wards in the national capital were held on December 4. A total of 1,349 candidates contested the elections, the first since three civic bodies were unified earlier this year. In 2017, BJP had won 181 of the (then) 270 municipal wards while AAP could secure only 48, and Congress finished third with 30.

This was the first election after the MCD was reunified earlier this year. The polls, which took place on December 4, saw a voter turnout of only 50.48% — just over 73 lakh people from the total of 1.45 crore eligible voters. Data shared by the Delhi State Election Commission shows that upscale neighbourhoods of South Delhi saw the lowest voter turnout in the municipal polls. Rural pockets and parts of Northeast Delhi, where riots took place in 2020, saw the highest polling percentages.