New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP Wednesday won the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election, bagging 134 wards of the total 250 and breaking the BJP’s winning streak.
The BJP won in 104 wards, the Congress in nine and Independents in three.
The BJP had fielded four Muslim candidates hailing from the backward Pasmanda community, all of whom lost. And of the 21 Muslim-dominated wards, 11 went to AAP candidates, five to Congress, three to BJP and the remaining 2 to Independents.
The BJP, though won or in all three wards in the assembly constituency of Satyendar Jain, AAP leader and minister in the Delhi government, who is currently in jail in connection with a money laundering case. And of the four wards falling under Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s constituency, three were won by the BJP and one by AAP.
AAP MLA Som Dutt had told ThePrint that power in MCD will make governing the capital easier.
“The civic body is one department that is most connected with the public. Earlier, there used to be a lot of tussles between the MCD and the MLAs from the same area if they were from different parties. An MLA had to get an NOC from the councilor if they were doing some work, and the public would suffer. The work will get smoother. The BJP would create a lot of hurdles for us to work. This will help us further strengthen the party in Delhi and earn the goodwill of the citizens,” he said.
Also read: Where is India’s politics headed? Just wait for the result of 2022 Delhi civic body polls
High-stakes battle
The BJP, which was in power in the MCD for 15 years, had turned the civic body election into a battle of prestige, putting to work its big names, including chief ministers and Union ministers, for campaigning. Meanwhile, the AAP campaigned without some of its prominent leaders, who were focused on the Gujarat assembly polls.
The AAP won 134 seats, an increase of 86 seats from last time, while the BJP’s vote share increased by about 3 per cent. In 2017, the BJP had won 181 seats of the then total 270 seats — coming under Delhi’s three civic bodies — with most of them in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation. The AAP had won 48.
Earlier this year, Delhi’s East, North and South civic bodies were unified into one Municipal Corporation of Delhi with 250 seats.
With the MCD win, AAP hopes to consolidate its hold over the national capital, but experts are doubtful, given its constant power tussle with the BJP.
Niranjan Sahoo, senior fellow with the Observer Research Foundation’s (ORF) Governance and Politics Initiative, expressed that attaining autonomy amid roadblocks created by the central government would be difficult to achieve.
“The foremost challenge in front of the AAP is to attain the kind of autonomy it needs to operate. While AAP has won 134 seats, many of the tasks and activities that come under MCD are still under various government bodies and ministries — like housing and urban development and the Delhi Development Authority — that are under the Centre. There has been a constant fight between the BJP ruled-MCD and AAP, and now it will enter a new dimension,” Sahoo said.
“The Centre’s response has been hostile towards the AAP government and it may try to create roadblocks if the MCD is under AAP,” he added.
A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chadrachud is expected to take up the case pertaining to the administration of the capital, which has become a power tussle between the central and Delhi governments, in January 2023. Sahoo said if the judgment is in favour of the central government, it will completely “change the dynamics of the AAP vs Centre fight”.
“Earlier the tussle used to be between AAP versus the BJP-run MCD, then it will be a direct fight between the Centre and AAP,” he told ThePrint.
‘No matter how much BJP tries to stop us, we will work hard’
For the AAP, however, the main challenge will be to deal with the cleanliness issue, and they are aware that they may face some resistance from the BJP on it.
“The main challenge would be the cleanliness and the garbage problem because it majorly comes under MCD, but we are confident that just as we improved schools, hospitals and are even improving the water supply and providing other welfare schemes, we will be able to tackle it. Our parshads (councilors) will remain among the public and we have no doubt we will be able to solve those problems with the support of the public,” said a senior AAP leader who wished to not be named.
“The BJP will try to do what it does. It has attempted to stop the Delhi government’s efforts to implement some welfare schemes. Even within the MCD, they have amended some acts in which things can be done only after LG’s approval. No matter how much they try to stop us, we will work hard and try to connect with the local people and the local problems,” the AAP leader added.
Political analyst and a fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) Rahul Verma said the AAP’s win in the MCD election has solidified AAP’s position in Delhi and, going further, it will become harder for the BJP to challenge the party in Delhi. Meanwhile, Mamata Pathania, a professor at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), says that for the AAP, the job itself, that of improving Delhi, will be tough.
“It is one thing to promise that the city will be turned into a paradise, and another to actually perform. The situation of basic amenities in the national capital is precarious and AAP will have to gear up because the citizens have high expectations,” she said.
Sanjay Kumar, Professor and Co-Director of Lokniti, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, feels that the AAP winning assembly election twice in Delhi is proof enough that the party has created a strong base in the national capital.
“The lower economic groups in the capital appreciate AAP’s school and healthcare related work. It is one of the reasons why they trusted the party in MCD too,” he said.
“However, the challenges will remain since the AAP in Delhi does not have complete control over power. Earlier, the BJP in MCD and the AAP government would indulge in blame games if some work did not happen, but now AAP will have complete responsibility. The expectations will rise. It will be a challenge for AAP to navigate the Centre-Delhi government conflict,” Kumar added.
With its long list of star campaigners doing road shows and jan sabhas (public meetings) in parts of Delhi, the BJP trained its guns at the AAP, speaking about alleged corruption and ‘revdi’ culture (freebies), but in Delhi’s slums and unauthorised colonies, CM Arvind Kejriwal’s freebie politics seems to have given the party an edge.
The budget estimates of the unified MCD were approximately Rs 15,276 crore for the financial year 2022-23 — a reduction of Rs 1,118 crore from its earlier estimate of about Rs 16,394 crore. The highest allocation was made for sanitation, general administration and education.
Speaking to media persons earlier about whether the BJP would continue to obstruct implementation of projects, AAP leader Atishi asked if the condition was better with the BJP in power in both at the central government and MCD, pointing out that there was still a problem of funds.
Giving examples of other states, like Madhya Pradesh, she added that the BJP’s ‘double-engine sarkaar’ was a “failure”.
“On the other hand, Arvind Kejriwal got things done despite the BJP at the Centre trying to obstruct it. Try and see for yourself after electing AAP in MCD. See whether it will get work done or not,” she said. “Action can only be taken when there is political will…Centre has tried to take power from us and in spite of that Arvind Kejriwal has delivered.”
With inputs from Neelam Pandey and Sukriti Vats
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: Cleanliness, ‘non performance’ top issues for voters in high-stakes Delhi civic poll