After MCD win, BJP draws blank in 2 wards' bypoll

New Delhi: Almost a month after its massive victory in the MCD polls, the BJP failed to open its account in the bypolls for two wards where the Congress and AAP candidates emerged victorious.

The Maujpur ward in East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) was won by the AAP candidate Reshma who defeated Congress’ Rekha Sharma by a margin of 699 votes. The BJP came third with its candidate Suman Sharma managing to obtain 5,763 votes.

The ward falls under Seelampur Assembly segment under northeast Delhi parliamentary seat represented by Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari. The ward was won by BJP in last MCD elections in 2012.

In Sarai Pipal Thala ward of North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), Congress candidate Mukesh Goel defeated the BJP candidate Mangat Ram Sharma by a margin of 2,743 votes. The win has added to the meagre seats won by the both parties in the three corporations to which elections were comprehensively won by the BJP last month. The AAP now has 49 wards in its kitty, while the Congress tally is 31.

Delhi has a total of 272 wards spread across North, South and East Delhi municipal corporations. Polling in these two wards was postponed due to the death of candidates there. While Maujpur went to polls on May 14, byelections for the Sarai Pipal ward was held on May 21.

Ajay Maken of Congress celebrated early, pointing out that not only has his party won the Sarai Pipal Thala ward but also narrowly came in second to the Aam Aadmi Party in Maujpur with the BJP relegated to third place. “Congrats! Congress workers have worked hard in MCD By Elections!...Won Sarai Pipal Thala by 3000 votes lost Maujpur by 600 votes-BJP came 3rd!,” Mr Maken tweeted.

The Delhi civic polls completed a washout of the Aam Aadmi Party that began with humiliating defeats for the party in assembly elections earlier this year in Punjab, where Mr Kejriwal was sure his party would form its next government after Delhi, and Goa, where it failed to win a single seat.