There was a glimpse of it months before the polls. All booth return surveys bolstered that impression. Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (UP) was far ahead in all booth return polls after last Sunday's Delhi municipal election. Even as the BJP's 'tough fight' with the AAP after the counting of votes began on Wednesday morning again raised questions about the acceptability of the booth return polls, the forecast is in one place—the Congress is virtually wiped out in the bypolls this time. Out of 250 wards, candidates of the 'Hand' symbol won only 8 for the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Final result awaited). 


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Even a decade ago, such a miserable state of the ruling Congress in the national capital was expected by a large section of poll pundits. Perhaps, the poll results had a clear message for Congress leaders and workers in Delhi as well. From morning, the BJP and AAP offices saw an eager crowd, but 24 Akbar Road remained silent. Even the main gate of the Delhi Pradesh Congress office on Deendayal Upadhyay Marg was closed!


Mallikarjun Kharge was also not seen in the Delhi bypoll campaign. On the other hand, AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, bid time in Delhi to handle the Gujarat polls. BJP's 16 Union Ministers have been campaigning continuously with the responsibility of various areas. In this situation, the campaigning of the local Congress leaders did not leave a mark on the minds of the voters. A Netizen tweeted, "Heard that congress delhi office was not even open today. What a downfall for a party which once ruled this city for so many decades. Congratulations AAP and BJP for a brilliant contest."


In 2017, the BJP won 183 of the total 272 seats in the three municipalities of Delhi. AAP got only 44 seats. Congress won 31. However, two years before that, the Congress, which was in power till 2013, was 'zero' in the 2015 assembly polls. Sonia-Rahul Gandhi's party did not win any seats in the 2020 assembly elections. This time, the public support for the party hit the bottom in the by-polls as well.