Delhi: BJP wins 7 of 12 seats as AAP bags 3 in MCD bypolls

The BJP won seven wards, the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) secured three, while the Congress and the AIFB (All India Forward Bloc) won one seat each in the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) bypolls held for 12 wards.

The bypolls were viewed as a key political test for the BJP — its first major electoral exercise since returning to power in Delhi in February.

In one of the closely watched contests, BJP candidate Suman Kumar Gupta defeated AAP’s Harsh Sharma by 1,182 votes.

The party also comfortably retained the Shalimar Bagh B ward, where Anita Jain beat AAP’s Babita Rana by over 10,000 votes. The ward was earlier held by Rekha Gupta, who vacated it after becoming Delhi’s Chief Minister following the February Assembly polls.

AAP registered victories in Mundka and Dakshinpuri, while the Congress’s Suresh Choudhary won Sangam Vihar A, defeating BJP’s Subhajeet Gautam with 12,766 votes against Gautam’s 9,138. In Ashok Vihar, BJP’s Veena Asija prevailed in a tight contest against AAP’s Seema Goyal, winning by 405 votes.

The AIFB’s Mohd Imran clinched the Chandni Mahal ward with a 4,692-vote margin over AAP’s Mudassar Usman.

The BJP also emerged victorious in Dichaon Kalan, Greater Kailash and Dwarka-B. In Dwarka-B, Manisha Rani won by 9,100 votes against AAP’s Raj Bala. The seat was earlier held by Kamaljeet Sehrawat, now a BJP MP.

AAP’s Rajan Arora won the Naraina ward, defeating BJP’s Chandrakanta Shivani by a slim margin of 148 votes.

The counting began at 8 am on 1 December, under tight security arrangements across 10 designated centres, including Pitampura, Najafgarh, Civil Lines, Dwarka and Rouse Avenue. Strong rooms housing EVMs were guarded round the clock with CCTV surveillance and paramilitary deployment.

Nine of the 12 wards that went to bypolls on 30 November were earlier held by the BJP, while three were with AAP.

The voter turnout stood at 38.51 per cent, significantly lower than the 50.47 per cent recorded in the 2022 MCD elections for 250 wards.

With Agency Inputs