BJP zeroes in on 180 seats, no wave yet in MCD polls -

Spread the love

By S Jha

New Delhi, November 28: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are locked in a see-saw battle for the control of the politically significant municipal corporation of Delhi. The people will cast their votes in the MCD polls on December 4.

The AAP, which had been unsuccessful in unseating the BJP from power in the 2017 civic body polls, is making a determined pitch to wrest the control in the unified MCD. In the 2017 polls, the AAP was not able to match the cadre strength of the BJP in the municipal wards despite a clear dominance in the politics of the national capital.

“The scale now remains largely even, with a slight edge gained in the last few days. The BJP is now focussed on 180 seats, pouring all energy in these wards. The BJP will aim to win most of the wards out of 180,” said a senior BJP functionary. There are a total of 252 municipal wards in the national capital.

While the BJP has sought to set the poll narrative on the issue of the jailed Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, who has been languishing in the Tihar Jail for the past few months, the saffron outfit has so far fielded the party chief JP Nadda, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, besides senior leaders. The BJP leaders who are currently camping in Gujarat are likely to take the field in the national capital from Wednesday, while the electioneering will come to an end on Friday evening.

“The MCD election is all about the cadre strength since polling is generally low. The candidates on the basis of their personal connect bring voters out. With the victory margin generally too low in the municipal wards, candidates who have captive vote base win elections,” added the BJP functionary.

The BJP is also counting on Congress not “seeking to transfer vote base to the AAP”. Since the MCD elections launch the political career of the candidates, Congress nominees will slug it out to make their presence felt, which will ensure triangular contests in the wards unlike the Assembly elections in the national capital. While the BJP has maintained its vote share in the Assembly elections, the decimation of Congress has swelled the support base of the AAP in the Assembly. The BJP is hoping to make a new beginning with the MCD elections after losing a series of Assembly polls in the national capital since 1998.