The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) registered its maiden victory in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections – bringing an end to Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) 15-year long run at the helm of the civic body. The Arvind Kejriwal-spearheaded outfit won 134 seats whilst the BJP secured 104 seats. However, the latter stated that it would still have a say in choosing the next Mayor of the capital.
Early trends indicated BJP taking the lead, but the AAP soon edged past its rival to clinch victory. In vote share terms, there was a difference of only three percentage points between the two parties, while the Congress was left far behind.
In the 2017 civic polls, BJP had secured 181 of the 272 seats, with a vote share of 36.08%, while the then debutants in the arena, AAP had secured only 48 seats with a vote share of 26.23%.
Reacting to the party’s loss, Delhi BJP President Adesh Gupta stated that the people of Delhi had given the saffron party the responsibility of being a “strong Opposition”. “We will constructively keep raising the issues of the general public,” he stated.
Meanwhile, reacting to their victory, AAP’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal stated, “This is the fourth election we have won in Delhi on the issues of electricity, water, education and health. Only AAP is practising positive politics in the country today. To make India number 1, we need positivity; we need to focus on schools, hospitals, electricity, water and other issues that affect the common man.”
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Which of the following parties fielded the highest number of candidates with criminal cases during the recent Gujarat elections?
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