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| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: DNA Web Desk |Updated: Nov 13, 2022, 03:11 PM IST
In the run-up to the December 4 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls, the BJP, which has been ruling the civic body for 15 straight years, is striving to strengthen its position, whereas the Aam Aadmi Party is stepping up its efforts to wrest the civic body from it.
The stakes are high for both the parties in the battle of the hustings for the largest municipal body which has an annual budget of over Rs 15,000 crore for 250 wards.
Political experts believe that these polls will set the political narrative in the national capital for the next assembly and parliamentary elections.
AAP has made it clear that it is going contest the MCD polls with the agenda of clearing the three garbage mountains in the national capital. On Friday, Kejriwal announced 10 guarantees for the public, which the party called 'Kejriwal Ki 10 Guarantees'.
Announcing the same, Kejriwal said that the first guarantee is that no new landfill sites will be formed in the city.
"We will clear all the three garbage mountains and will not allow the formation of any new landfill in the city," said Kejriwal, adding that AAP will invite global experts to find a solution to the garbage issue.
Among other guarantees, Kejriwal announced that Delhi will be developed as the city of parks, while a permanent and practical solution will be found for the parking issue.
With Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia likely to remain engaged with campaighing in Gujarat, AAP with its Delhi unit resources is pinning hopes on their 'door to door' and 'Kude Par Jansamvad' campaigns to take on the BJP.
The party has started 'Kude Par Jansamvad' at 13,682 booths to reach out to Delhiites before the elections. The party is planning hold public dialogues at each of Delhi`s 13,682 booths by November 20.
The BJP is countering AAP with two important issues -- pollution and corruption. However, the saffron party is also facing massive anti-incumbency after being in power for 15 years. It also lacks a face like Arvind Kejriwal to counter the AAP.
For the BJP, strong organisational support coupled with the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi may give the party the necessary edge over its rival Aam Aadmi Party.
The anti-incumbency factor looms large this time against the BJP. But anti-incumbency is not the only factor that goes against the saffron party. Despite being in power for so many years in the municipal bodies in Delhi, the party hardly has a local impactful face to lead with. It is still dependent upon the Central leadership and the Prime Minister in this regard.
Meanwhile, the Congress is trying to woo the voters on the work done during the tenure of late Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
The AAP entered the MCD election fray for the first time in 2017 and managed to win 49 wards. Despite losing the election to the BJP, the party managed to replace the Congress as the main opposition. The Congress had registered victory on only 31 wards in the 2017 civic polls.
However, this time the MCD election has become like the 'Game of Thrones' for both the AAP and the BJP. If the AAP wins the election, the party will rule the MCD for the first time since its formation and the much hyped excuse of a funding crisis can be addressed as the party will be in power in both the assembly and the MCD. If the BJP wins the MCD election, it will create a record of ruling the civic body for the fourth time in a row. So, the stakes for both the AAP and the BJP are high in this MCD election.
The BJP has been able to win the civic body polls three times in a row in 2007, 2012 and 2017 and is ruling the MCD for the last 15 years. Taking a look at the MCD seat sharing, the BJP won 164 seats and took the MCD from the Congress that got only 67 wards in 2007. However, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) was also in the foray and managed to win 17 wards while others got 24 seats in that election.
In the 2012 MCD election, the BJP managed to win again though the party lost 26 wards and registered victory on only 138 seats. The main opposition Congress gained 10 wards and won a total of 77 seats. And, the others managed to win 57 wards which also included the BSP's 15 seats. It was the first election after the MCD was divided into three bodies under the UPA 2 regime. The AAP was not in the foray that year.
In the 2017 civic polls, the BJP again came into power with 181 seats, a gain of 43 seats from the 2012 election. However, an important factor that must be underlined here is that after the entry of the AAP into the political landscape of Delhi, the election patterns for the MCD changed drastically. As the MCD used to be bipolar earlier, after the AAP`s entry it became tripolar - BJP, Congress and AAP.
In this election, the AAP for the first time won 49 seats and the BJP gained 43 seats. The additional wards of the BJP and the AAP was of course a major blow to the Congress as it lost 46 seats and managed to win only 31 wards, emerging as the third party in the MCD. The AAP replaced Congress both in terms of seats and vote share.
The BSP also lost 12 wards and could manage to win only three wards, two in east Delhi - Gharoli and Seelampur - and one in north Delhi - Rohini C in 2017. However, the BSP seems to be missing after that election in Delhi's political landscape.
Looking at the zone wise performance of both the parties in 2017, the BJP won the highest number of 70 wards in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) with a vote share of 34.87 per cent, while the AAP managed to win only 16 wards with a 26.44 per cent vote share.
In the NDMC, the BJP won 64 wards with 35.63 per cent vote share, the AAP has 21 wards with a 27.88 per cent vote share. The BJP won 47 wards with a 38.61 per cent vote share while the AAP has 12 seats with a 23.40 per cent vote share. The Congress got 16 wards with 21 per cent, 12 wards with 20.29 vote share and 3 wards with 22.84 share respectively in the NDMC, SDMC and EDMC.
