New Delhi: By-elections are scheduled for 12 municipal wards in Delhi on Sunday, November 30th. Consequently, election campaigning came to a halt on Friday evening. The BJP had already won nine of the 12 wards where by-elections are being held. Now, it remains to be seen how well the BJP performs in the election results on December 3rd. This result is no less than a litmus test for Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. Previously, she was a councilor from the Shalimar Bagh constituency. Now, winning this seat has become a prestige battle for her.
A total of 51 candidates are in the fray in the MCD elections. This time, more than 50 percent of the candidates are women. The BJP has fielded the highest number of women candidates. After this, AAP and Congress have also fielded women candidates. While the BJP has fielded 8 women candidates, AAP has fielded 6 and Congress has fielded 5 candidates. There are a total of 250 members in the Delhi Municipal Corporation, in which the BJP has the highest number of councillors, 116. AAP has 99, Indraprastha Vikas Party has 14 and Congress has 8 councillors. The number of councillors will increase after the results are declared on December 3.
BJP leaders are confident about this by-election. Mayor Raja Iqbal said, “We are confident that we will win all 12 seats. The people of Delhi have completely rejected AAP. The BJP won a landslide victory in Bihar. We will receive a large majority of votes here as well. Our entire BJP team has campaigned diligently here.” Of the 12 seats in this by-election, five are reserved for women and one for a Scheduled Caste. The remaining seats are for general category.
It’s worth noting that the Aam Aadmi Party secured a majority in the MCD elections, winning 134 seats. The BJP secured 104 seats, while the Congress secured nine. Three independents also won. In this by-election, two seats are receiving the most attention: Shalimar Bagh B and Dwarka B. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta previously held the seat in Shalimar Bagh, while the Dwarka B seat fell vacant after Kamaljeet became a Lok Sabha MP. The outcome of the election will be determined on December 3rd. Currently, all parties are claiming their respective victories.
