Assembly poll results boost BJP, Cong; AAP hopes for 2015 repeat

All eyes are now on the civic polls scheduled in the Capital next month

NEW DELHI : Delhi Chief Minister Arind Kejriwal along with party leaders during a working-lunch meeting, after defeted in Punjab election, at his residence at Flag Staff Road, in New Delhi on Saturday. 11-03-2017. 
Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

The results of the five State Assembly elections on Saturday, particularly the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) win in Uttar Pradesh, triggered a fresh round of speculation over the fate of the Capital’s three civic bodies that will go to polls next month.

The BJP has been in power in the municipal corporations of Delhi since 2007, with the Congress in Opposition. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), meanwhile, will be contesting the municipal polls for the first time.

Confident lot

The BJP, which is expected to face anti-incumbency, was more confident after Saturday’s results, as was the Congress, which is hoping to revive itself in the Capital.

Despite what party insiders admitted was a below-than-expected performance in Punjab and Goa, the AAP remained confident of wresting control of the three municipal corporations, citing the “failure of the Modi wave” in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections.

‘For the middle class’

The Delhi BJP, evidently elated with the party’s sweep in UP, pointed to victories in Noida and Ghaziabad as proof that it had won the battle for “the hearts and minds of the middle class” and would partake in “a victory march” culminating at the helm of each civic bodies.

“Our performance in several areas that constitute the National Capital Region (NCR), which is inhabited by people who work and earn in Delhi, is an indicator that the middle class is not only with us, but for us,” said a senior leader from the Delhi BJP, adding that the party would begin preparations for the civic polls “with renewed vigour”.

Sharmistha Mukherjee, spokesperson of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, said that the Congress’ wins in Punjab and Goa had proved that the AAP would not be its “replacement”.

“The AAP was trying to project itself as an alternative to the Congress. But, people have rejected that. When it comes to the municipal elections in Delhi, the issues will be local. Delhiites are tired of both the BJP and the AAP,” she said.

She added that Delhi was “different”, citing the example of the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, where the BJP was reduced to three seats not even a year after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, where the BJP swept the seven Parliamentary seats.

The AAP, too, used the same argument. “There is no reason to equate the success of the BJP in UP or any other State with its chances in Delhi. Despite the Modi wave, the AAP won 67 of the 70 Assembly constituencies in 2015. The municipal corporations have, over the last decade under the BJP, become dens of corruption and will fall more for that reason in addition to anti-incumbency,” said a senior AAP functionary.