‘We have to fix Delhi together,’ says Kejriwal as AAP wins MCD polls

As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls on Wednesday, Arvind Kejriwal said he needed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s blessing and the Centre’s cooperation to “fix Delhi.”

As senior party leader Manish Sisodia took to Twitter to thank the people of Delhi for helping them defeat the “world’s biggest and most negative party,” Kejriwal sought help from everyone — the BJP, the Congress, and the Centre — to put things right in the national capital and stressed the need for “positive politics.”

AAP’s MCD victory gave it a “double engine” government for the first time in the capital, where it has been in power since 2015. Of the 250 wards under the MCD, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP won 134 seats.

Exit polls had predicted a massive defeat for the BJP, which was reigning over the MCD for 15 years. However, the saffron party put up a spirited fight to win 104 seats. The Congress lagged far behind, winning just nine seats. Independents won three.

आज हम दिल्ली में चौथा चुनाव जीते हैं, काम की राजनीति पर 💪

हमने पूरा चुनाव मुद्दों पर लड़ा 💯

दिल्ली की जनता ने संदेश दिया है:
✅Positive राजनीति करो
❌Negative नहीं

—CM @ArvindKejriwal #MCDMeinBhiKejriwal pic.twitter.com/x9CNOSQcR1

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) December 7, 2022

“Many responsibilities”

Addressing the people after the win, Kejriwal said, “We have indulged in politics till this point. Now we have to work together. We want the cooperation of BJP and Congress. Together, we will fix Delhi.”

“We worked day and night to fix schools. We worked day and night to fix hospitals. Today, they have given us the responsibility of cleaning up Delhi, ending corruption… There are many responsibilities,” Kejriwal added.

दिल्ली MCD में आम आदमी पार्टी पर भरोसा करने के लिए दिल्ली की जनता का दिल से आभार…

दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी और सबसे नेगेटिव पार्टी को हराकर दिल्ली की जनता ने कट्टर ईमानदार और काम करने वाले @ArvindKejriwal जी को जिताया है.

हमारे लिए ये सिर्फ़ जीत नहीं बड़ी ज़िम्मेदारी है.

— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) December 7, 2022

Earlier, Sisodia tweeted, “Heartfelt gratitude to the people of Delhi for trusting Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi MCD. By defeating the world’s biggest and most negative party, the people of Delhi have helped the honest and hardworking @ArvindKejriwalji win.” Sisodia’s tweet in Hindi clearly targeted the BJP.

“For us, this is not just a victory, it is a big responsibility,” he added in the tweet.

Ramifications beyond Delhi likely

The high-stakes election was held on December 4, sealing the electoral fate of 1,349 candidates. A voter turnout of 50.48% was registered in the elections. The results of this election may have ramifications beyond the national capital.

The counting of votes began at 8 am, and initial trends (at 9.30 am) put the BJP ahead of the AAP by a significant margin, but the pendulum swung in the AAP’s favour soon afterwards.

This was the first election after the MCD was reunified earlier this year. In 2017, the BJP clinched 181 of the then 270 municipal wards, while AAP won only 48, and the Congress finished third with 30.

BJP’s national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said earlier in the day, “Even after 15 years of the BJP rule, the party has retained its vote share based on its work.”

Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said, “Despite 15 years of anti-incumbency, our performance is better. We worked for the people of Delhi at the municipal corporations but maybe some people were not happy.”

(With agency inputs)