AAP returns to the drawing board after bigwigs lose their MCD wards

NEW DELHI: The recently concluded Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections have put the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on notice, as several of its “stalwarts” have not been able to perform well in the elections, with many of its Cabinet Ministers not being able to get even 20% seats from their respective constituencies.
Sources in the AAP told The Sunday Guardian that a high-level meeting to discuss the outcome of the MCD polls would be held next week, with Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. The AAP is also likely to dwell on the issue of jailed minister Satyendra Jain’s image among the public and whether he should continue as a cabinet minister in the Delhi government, despite being in jail.
“We were expecting much better results. The outcome was not as expected. Our own survey showed that the party was expecting to win at least 150 seats, but we fell short by 20 seats. Kejriwal will hold a meeting with the top brass and deliberate on issues that led to this result,” an AAP leader from Delhi told The Sunday Guardian.
The AAP has lost all three wards to the BJP that comprise the Assembly constituency of Satyendra Jain. Jain has been in jail for months owing to alleged hawala charges. Several videos of Jain were also released from inside the Tihar Jail showing him enjoying VIP facilities and massages inside the prison from rapists and other inmates.
Another senior AAP leader, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia could not deliver a favourable result from his constituency. Sisodia’s Patparganj constituency has four wards, out of which the AAP lost three to the BJP, and won just one. It is pertinent to mention here that Sisodia during the 2020 Delhi Assembly polls, struggled to win this seat as till the last few rounds of counting, he was lagging in the race.
Sisodia has also embroiled himself in the alleged liquor scam, for which his close aide has already been arrested by the CBI. Sisodia himself has been questioned by the CBI.
Another AAP minister, Kailash Gahlot, has lost all of the four wards in his Assembly constituency of Najafgarh, while Gopal Rai, another minister in the Delhi Cabinet, could win only one of the four wards from his Babarpur Assembly constituency. Even AAP’s senior leader and popular face Atishi Marlena, who represents the Kalkaji Assembly seat, lost three of the four wards that come under her Assembly constituency.
“This is certainly a cause for concern. Our ministers and star leaders have lost their wards and this is something that the AAP chief has not taken lightly. The verdict, although being celebrated apparently, has in a way put the AAP leaders on notice to correct their way or perish before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Also, the message that the opposition tried to portray for Sisodia and Jain seems to have percolated down to the people at least in some seats and the party will rethink its strategies going ahead,” the senior AAP leader quoted above said.
The AAP leader also pointed out that the party will be considering its strategy with regards to minorities as AAP has not fared well in the minority areas where it was expecting to do well. Most of the minority dominated seats have either gone to the Congress or have been won by Independent candidates. Most of the wards in the riot-hit North East district also saw the AAP losing.
Sources within the AAP said that the AAP would definitely have a Mayor of its own and that it has had several rounds of talks with the elected councillors. The process of selecting the first Mayor of Delhi is also on. The Mayoral election where all the newly elected councillors are to vote will be held soon. The AAP is also hopeful that the standing committee chairman, another important post in the Delhi MCD, will be bagged by the AAP, given that the AAP has an absolute majority in the newly elected MCD.