When it comes to electing its civic body, Delhi has been voting in a pattern. According to the results of the elections of the newly-trifurcated Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the vote share of the three leading parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party -- has not changed much since the 2007 polls despite the trifurcation and 50 per cent reservation for women.
A closer look at the data released by the State Election Commission has revealed that 22.57 lakh people across Delhi voted for the BJP, 18.78 lakh for the Congress, 8.75 lakh for the Independents, 6.14 lakh for the BSP, 1.39 lakh for the NCP and 1.18 lakh for the Samajwadi Party in these elections.
The BJP, which won 138 of the 272 wards in these elections, voting for which was held on April 15, got 36.71 per cent of the total votes polled, a slight improvement over the 36.17 per cent it got in 2007. But overall it won 26 fewer wards from the 164 it bagged five years ago.
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The Congress vote share went up from 29.17 per cent in 2007 to 30.54 per cent and the party won 10 more seats this time to reach a total tally of 67 in the three corporations.
The BSP, which saw a marked decline in its vote share in the recent Uttar Pradesh elections, and yet contested 253 wards in the civic polls in Delhi, not only retained its vote share but in fact improved on it slightly. The party's vote share went up from 9.87 per cent in 2007 to 9.99 per cent even though it won two wards less and bagged just 15.
Among the other political parties, the Nationalist Congress Party which won six wards got 2.26 per cent votes while the Samajwadi Party won two wards and polled 1.93 per cent votes.
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The Independents, who had won just 15 wards in the 2007 elections, bagged as many as 24 this time and their vote share was a healthy 14.23 per cent.
In the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the BJP emerged the clear leader with 59 of the 105 seats as it got 40.51 per cent of the votes polled. The Congress won 29 wards with a 31.96 per cent vote share while the BSP won seven wards with 9.65 per cent votes. The Independents won four seats here with 10.88 per cent votes while the Rashtriya Lok Dal also won four with just 1.62 per cent of all votes polled.
The contest between the arch-rivals was closer in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation where the BJP won 44 wards with 33.8 per cent vote share, Congress bagged 29 with 29.19 per cent votes and the BSP five with 8.72 per cent votes. Here the Independents won as many as 14 wards with 17.12 per cent vote share and this was one major reason why no single party got a clear majority.
East Delhi upset
Considered a stronghold of the Congress till not so long ago, the areas under the East Delhi Municipal Corporation voted very differently. The Congress managed to poll 30.34 per cent votes and won just 19 seats while the BJP won a majority by winning 35 wards with a 35.02 per cent vote share. The Independents got 15.19 per cent votes but won just six wards here and the BSP despite a comparatively higher 12.39 per cent vote share managed just three wards