Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta resigns days after losing MCD poll to AAP

Days after losing the MCD election to the AAP, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta has resigned from his post. His resignation has been accepted by the central leadership of the party and Virendra Sachdeva, presently Delhi BJP vice-president, has been appointed as working president till further arrangements, news agency ANI reported on Sunday. 

Adesh Gupta took the charge of Delhi BJP on 2 June 2020, succeeding Mano Tiwari. Before becoming the Delhi chief, Gupta served as Mayor of North Delhi for a year, from April 2018 to 29 April 2019. 

Gupta's resignation comes just days after the BJP lost the civic polls to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). In the election held on December 4, the AAP bagged 134 of 250 seats while the BJP could manage only 104. The Congress came third with 9 seats.

Before ceding the ground to Arvind Kejriwal's AAP, the saffron party ruled the MCD for 15 years. The party, however, could not hold the fort this time due to a combination of factors including the lack of credible face in the state unit. 

While BJP lost the seats, it increased its share by 3 per cent to 39 per cent. The AAP garnered 42 per cent votes, up by nearly 16 per cent from what it had got in the last election.