MCD Election Results 2017 - BJP Set For Huge Win In Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal Spurned, Show Leads

NEW DELHI:  The BJP is set to retain all three municipal corporations in Delhi for which elections were held on Sunday. It is leading in all three by huge margins, with Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress neck and neck as they scramble for the number 2 slot. The MCD election is seen as a report card of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Delhi government's performance in two years of being in power.

Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:

At 10 am, the BJP had already crossed the halfway mark, leading in 64 of 100 wards for which leads were in for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) North. A party needs 52 to win the 104-ward municipality.

In South Delhi, where the BJP had fallen short of a majority last time, the party was already ahead in 63 of 100 wards for which leads were in. The MCD South too has 104 wards and a party needs 52 to win.  

In East Delhi, the BJP led in 40 of 60 wards for which leads were in. The MCD East is the smallest with 64 wards, and a party wins with 32.    

For AAP a loss today will mean a political wipe-out. Chief Minister Kejriwal's party, which had swept assembly elections in Delhi two years ago, is already reeling from humiliating losses in the Punjab and Goa assembly elections last month.

A win today will add to the BJP's list of victories this year in state and local elections across the country. The party, which has dominated the MCD for a decade, has targeted winning over 200 of the total



272 wards in three municipalities.

The BJP conducted a big campaign for the MCD elections to retain control, still smarting at being reduced to just three seats in the Delhi assembly in 2015, as AAP swept 67 of the 70 seats. In the 2014 national election, the BJP had won all seven of Delhi's parliament seats.  

The Congress had hoped for a good performance today, seeking a political revival in Delhi. The party did not win a single seat in the Delhi assembly elections in 2015 or a parliament seat the year before.   

Arvind Kejriwal has said he will launch a "movement" if the BJP wins Delhi today. An hour into counting there was no word from Mr Kejriwal, usually quick to tweet or comment.

AAP has said it fears electronic voting machines (EVMs) were tampered; Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier suggested that the MCD polls should be conducted using paper ballots. The state election commission rejected the apprehensions saying the machines were "completely safe".

Polling was held on Sunday in 270 of the 272 wards of the three municipal corporations. The election to two wards has been postponed because candidates died.

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HIGHLIGHTS

1

BJP ahead in all three civic corporations in Delhi

2

Congress, AAP neck and neck for number 2 spot in all three municipalities

3

"BJP will win with overwhelming majority": Delhi BJP Chief Manoj Tiwari