The BJP, AAP, and Congress are having a huge day today as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls for the year 2022 began to be counted on Wednesday at 8 AM. In 128 wards, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in the lead, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not far behind in 106 wards. Early trends from the State Election Commission (SEC) indicate that Congress is currently in the lead in eleven wards.
Here are some key points to clear the big picture:
• When the trends for all 250 seats started to come in, it was obvious that this result wasn't even close to what the exit polls had projected. The counting trends had started at 8.15, with the AAP taking a lead in 60 of 100 seats. So far, 41% of the votes have been tallied.
• The MCD election results have begun to stream in. Sarika Chaudhary, who represents AAP in Daryaganj, has won the seat. With victories for Alka Raghav and Neema Bhagat, respectively, the BJP has kept its hold on the Laxmi Nagar and Geeta Colony seats. With Sonali's victory, the party ousted Congress from the Siddharth Nagar seat. Additionally, Lajpat Nagar and Rohini-D were won by the BJP.
• These are the first civic elections since the MCD was reunified and the wards were redesigned after it was separated into three areas roughly ten years ago. The BJP's most recent term came to a conclusion early this year. The competition has almost 1,300 contestants.
• Despite not having constituted the Delhi state government in the previous 24 years, the BJP has maintained a strong grip over MCD. Even though the AAP won a staggering 67 out of 70 seats in the 2015 assembly elections, the BJP was able to keep control of the civic body by winning 181 of the 272 seats two years later. AAP came in second with 48; Congress came in third with 30.
• The BJP went all out, as it often does, by having Prime Minister Narendra Modi hand over keys to some slum rehab flats as one of its campaign highlights. It ran a campaign that demonstrated the prestige of the city struggle by deploying union ministers led by Amit Shah alongside party leader JP Nadda and numerous chief ministers. Local authorities played a minor role.
• In addition to pressing corruption allegations against several AAP ministers, the BJP has made housing promises. However, Mr. Kejriwal asserts that "bogus allegations" and "misuse of central agencies" won't derail his "shaandaar" (glory) work as chief minister.
• At the very least, Congress wants to gain certain spheres of control. After Sheila Dikshit passed away in 2019, Delhi is still undergoing reconstruction.