Almost a decade after having burst onto the political scene in the national capital and having been in power in the national capital of territory for most of the duration, the Aam Aadmi Party today completed its dominance of the capital's politics by winning the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
The significance of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party's victory in the civic polls in which its main rival was the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party that had been in power in the MCD for three consecutive terms is expected to be played up by the AAP beyond the city limits as a win over the BJP as it emerges as a challenger on the national scene.
The civic elections this time were viewed with a never before interest nationally. It saw a spirited campaign mounted by both the AAP and the BJP, with both parties deputing their senior leaders to campaign for the polls. The BJP in fact had the entire top rung as also its chief ministers campaigning in the high-stakes political battle.
The civic polls were earlier scheduled to be held in April this year but were postponed as the Centre decided to unify the three corporations in the capital, which resulted in a delimitation exercise to redraw the constituencies. The AAP, engaged in a long-running tussle for control over the capital with the BJP-led Centre, claimed that the move was dictated by electoral considerations as the BJP had realised it would lose the elections.
The AAP had earlier endeavoured to win the MCD in 2017 and there was immense hype about the party's chances in the polls. However, it ended up as a distant second in the elections. It was felt that the party had been punished for focusing far too much outside Delhi as it endeavoured to expand to other states. Subsequently, in a change of strategy, Kejriwal and his party put its expansion plans on hold and focus on Delhi till the Assembly elections in 2020.
The victory in the MCD polls, although not as big as the AAP was hoping for, comes as a validation of its governance model which it emphasised in the campaign, with Chief Minister Kejriwal as its mascot. Its dominance of politics in the national capital is now complete, and it is now clear that the political fight in Delhi is now a direct fight between the AAP and the BJP, with the Congress, which had once dominated the proceedings, falling by the wayside.
