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Despite losing the Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party fared well in trans-Yamuna areas, including northeast Delhi that was rocked by communal riots in 2020, but its performance took a hit in the city's northern and southern parts of the city, data showed.
The Aam Aadmi Party won the MCD polls with 134 seats, ending the 15-year rule of the BJP in the prestigious municipal corporation and reducing the Congress to just nine seats in a house of 250.
The BJP, which was predicted to suffer a massive defeat in exit polls, put up a spirited fight, winning 104 municipal wards.
The BJP won 22 of the 36 wards in the East Delhi parliamentary constituency. The AAP won 11 and Congress three wards in East Delhi represented in the Lok Sabha by party MP Gautam Gambhir.
In the northeast Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, represented by MP Manoj Tiwari, the BJP won 21 of the 41 wards, said party leaders.
However, in Patel Nagar assembly constituency, where Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta lives, the party failed to win even a single of the four wards there. All the four wards in the assembly segment were won by the AAP.
In South Delhi, the BJP could win just Meethapur ward under Badarpur assembly seat represented by Leader of Opposition in Delhi assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri. The remaining Badarpur, Molarband, Hari Nagar Extension and Jaitpur were won by AAP candidates.
The Pasmanda Muslim experiment of the BJP also suffered reverses in the MCD polls. All the four women candidates from the community fielded by the BJP lost the elections.
The BJP, facing anti-incumbency of 15 years rule at the civic bodies and sustained attack for alleged corruption and mismanagement of the civic body, managed to put up a spirited fight and win 104 wards.
The party also managed to increase its vote share by more than 3 per cent as compared to 2017 municipal corporation elections. The vote share of the party was 36.08 per cent in 2017 elections for 272 wards of three municipal corporations.
Earlier this year, the Centre merged the three corporations into the MCD having 250 wards.
A section of Delhi BJP leaders alleged that "irregularities" in ticket distribution and a "high decibel negative campaign" targeting AAP and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal dented party's chances of victory.
The BJP in a high decibel campaigning for the MCD polls had deployed its big guns, including 17 Union ministers, chief ministers of half a dozen party-ruled states and other top functionaries mounting a relentless attack on AAP and the Kejriwal government over corruption issues.
"The BJP will constructively keep raising the issues of the people," party's city unit president Adesh Gupta said.
Gupta said the people of Delhi have given the BJP almost 40 per cent vote share along with 104 wards and responsibility as a strong opposition. "We will constructively keep raising the issues of general public".
"We hope that they will clear all three landfill sites within next six months and immediately fulfil their commitment to all sections of society, especially the RWAs," Gupta said.