New Delhi: MCD bypoll results have brought some good news for Congress party which is passing through one of the worst phases of its history.
Out of 13 seats that went to bypoll, AAP has won 5 seats, Congress 4 and BJP 3.
Although the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has publically expressed happiness over the fact that the party won 5 seats on debut in these bypolls but they know it very well that AAP was leading in 12 of these seats in 2015 Assembly elections. From that yardstick, the party has suffered a setback in at least 7 seats.
Everybody knows that AAP gained in Delhi at the expense of the Congress Party. The disillusioned supporters of the Congress Party, especially those from the lower economic strata of the society, shifted their allegiance en masse to Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP in last Assembly elections that resulted in AAP getting an unprecedented 67 out of a total of 70 legislative seats in Delhi.
What does the MCD bypoll results mean for AAP and Congress? Why did AAP lose support in these 7 seats well within a year. It’s true that the issues of MCD elections are different from that of an Assembly election but overall it does give hint of which way the political wind is blowing.
Out of 13seats that went to bypoll, Congress has won 4 seats. Interestingly, Congress had not won these seats even during 2007 and 2012 MCD polls.
One of its rebels Rajender Singh Tanwar has also won the elections and if Ajay Maken is to be believed he is likely to return to Congress very soon. If it happens then the tally of Congress in these bypolls will go up to 5 bringing the party at par with AAP.
Does the good performance of Congress mean that slowly but surely its core supporters are returning back to the party? If that is the case then obviously it should send alarm bells to the AAP camp. Electoral consolidation of Congress, in all probability, will weaken the hold of AAP on Delhi politics.
For almost a decade, the BJP ruled the MCD which was trifurcated in the year 2012. The thirteen seats that went to bypolls fell vacant after their representatives got elected to Delhi Assembly. Out of these 13 seats, BJP held 7 seats, RLD one and the independents held the rest 5.
Obviously, BJP is the biggest loser in these MCD bypolls. From 7 seats, the party’s tally has gone down to mere 3 seats.
These results clearly indicate that the party has failed to capitalise on the failures of the AAP government. And if the Congress continues to recover its lost ground in Delhi then it may become a direct fight between the AAP and the Congress. The BJP runs the risk of being pushed at the third spot if things continue to be as it is today.
After its spectacular performance in 2014 Lok Sabha elections when the party won all 7 seats, the saffron outfit is on a constant decline in the national capital. The party won a mere 3 out of 70 Assembly seats and now it has been relegated to the third spot in these MCD bypolls.
It goes without saying that both the Congress and the BJP need to do a lot of introspection after the good show by the Congress in these MCD bypolls.
