People want Kejriwal model: AAP's Atishi on civic by-polls win
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi on Wednesday celebrated her party's win in the recently-held civic body by-polls in Delhi, saying that people are happy with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's model of development. The AAP has swept the municipal by-polls, winning four of the five seats, results for which were announced today. Here are more details on this.
'People want the BJP out of MCD'
"AAP has won four out of five seats with a heavy margin and with a very clear difference," Atishi, the MLA from Kalkaji, told News18. "The people of Delhi have given an indication that they want BJP out of MCD and they want the Arvind Kejriwal model of development to be brought in the MCD as well (sic)."
AAP won 4 seats, Congress grabbed 1
The AAP won four of the five wards, for which by-elections were held on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Congress won the one remaining seat, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to open its account. The BJP even lost the Shalimar Bagh (North) seat, which it earlier held, to AAP's candidate Sunita Mishra. The by-elections were held in Rohini-C, Trilokpuri, Kalyanpuri, and Chauhan Banger.
Voting necessitated after four AAP councillors became MLAs
The by-polls were necessitated after AAP's councillors in four wards became MLAs, while the BJP councillor from one ward had died. Notably, the BJP holds power in all three corporations since 2012, when the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was divided into North, South, and East corporations. In the 2017 polls, the BJP had won 181 seats, AAP 48, while the Congress grabbed 30.
Kejriwal, Sisodia also celebrated the party's win
Other members of the AAP, including CM Kejriwal as well as Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, congratulated the people of Delhi and the party's workers. "The public has been troubled by the 15-year BJP misrule in the MCD. People are now desperate to form the AAP government in the MCD as well," tweeted Kejriwal. Sisodia, meanwhile, hailed Kejriwal's "honest and working politics."
Disheartening, says BJP Delhi chief Adesh Gupta
Separately, BJP Delhi chief Adesh Gupta called the defeat "disheartening." "Four seats were already with AAP, but losing Shalimar Bagh was disheartening," he told The Indian Express. The next municipal elections in Delhi are due to be held in 2022.
