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New Delhi: Delhi is scheduled to see by-elections in 12 wards on Sunday. The citizens are set to choose new councillors in 12 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). This will be a triangular contest, between Delhi's ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress. This is being described by my observers as a referendum on CM Rekha Gupta's tenure.
The results of the byelections are to be announced on December 3.
The campaigning for the MCD by-elections was intense. While Delhi CM Rekha Gupta herself took charge of campaigning for the BJP for the by-election, AAP's campaign was led by former CM Atishi. Both leaders ran a very high-powered campaign for their respective political parties.
The civic polls in Delhi are one of the most closely watched in the country. Apart from Rekha Gupta and Atishi, other party leaders also panned out across the city to campaign for the by-elections.
A total of 53 candidates are in the fray for the 12 wards which are going to polls on Sunday. Of the 12 vacant wards, the BJP held 9. The last civic election was held in December 2022. Currently the BJP has 115 councillors in the 250-member MCD.
The byelections are important for the BJP, which wants to win at least 10 to 12 seats and reach the majority mark of 125 in the Civic House. This is also an important election for CM Rekha Gupta. It is being seen as a referendum on her work, like starting e-buses, health and insurance schemes she has proposed after coming to power and arrangements made for Chhath Puja.
The elections are also crucial for the AAP. The party has 99 councillors as of now and it wants to get a majority in the civic house. This would help it regain some ground in a city in which it was in power in the Assembly. The party ruled Delhi for 10 years, before losing the Assembly elections to the BJP.
The elections to these seats were necessitated as the councillors on these seats were either elected to the Assembly or the Parliament. Even current CM, Rekha Gupta was a councillor, before being elected to the Assembly. As of now 11 seats are vacant and by-polls are being held on these seats on Sunday.
The wards where by-elections are being held include, Mundka, Shalimar Bagh-B, Ashok Vihar, Chandni Chowk, Chandni Mahal, Dwarka B, Dichaon Kalan, Naraina, Sangam Vihar-A, Dakshin Puri (SC), Greater Kailash, and Vinod Nagar.
