How BJP Swept MCD Polls Two Years After Delhi Rout

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posted on 7 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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The BJP slogan, too, aimed to disaasociate from its less-than-satisfactory performance in the MCD —‘Nayi urja, naye chehre, nayi udaan.

New Delhi: In 2015, just a year after Narendra Modi swept to power at the Centre with a massive majority, the BJP suffered a shock defeat in the national capital. With Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP winning 67 of the 70 seats in the Assembly, the BJP was reduced to just three. Once a political force to be reckoned with in the national capital, the BJP was seen as fighting for its very survival. Delhi was described as a ‘white spot in a sea of saffron’. Just over two years after the Assembly polls, the BJP turned its loss around and came back to power in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for the third consecutive time.No tickets to sitting councillors

A month before the MCD elections, BJP’s Delhi state president and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari shocked observers by announcing that the BJP would not give tickets to any of its 138 sitting councillors. Sources say BJP president Amit Shah threw his weight behind this high-risk gamble.

He added, “It won’t lead to infighting. These are people who believe in the values of the BJP and the party has shown faith in them. If it hadn’t, they wouldn’t have gotten important posts in the party organisation. They will now stand with the new faces and guide them. BJP leaders don’t haggle for power. Our aim is to work for Delhi and win power in both MCD and government."

The BJP slogan, too, aimed to disaasociate from its less-than-satisfactory performance in the MCD —‘Nayi urja, naye chehre, nayi udaan. Dilli maange kamal nishaan’ (New energy, new faces, new flight; Delhi wants the lotus symbol). In the end, the gamble seems to have paid off for the BJP as the new faces helped it beat the anti-incumbency wave. Banking on ‘Brand Modi’

After decisive mandates in UP and Uttarakhand, the momentum was with the BJP going in to the MCD polls. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not campaign for the MCD polls at all, it was his face that was plastered on BJP posters all around the city. Senior members of the Modi Cabinet, including Rajnath Singh, Uma Bharti and Smriti Irani, came to the city to campaign and spoke of the PM’s “dynamic leadership".

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