The Hindu : New Delhi News : Post election triumph BJP goes in for introspection

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007
ePaper

New Delhi

New Delhi

Post election triumph BJP goes in for introspection

Staff Reporter

Why fewer seats won by the party than expected; why low turnout of voters?

NEW DELHI: Despite securing a majority in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party is not resting easy. With its eyes now firmly set on the 2008 Delhi Assembly elections, the party is busy analysing the reasons why it did not win more seats in the civic polls.

"We had genuinely expected to win around 200 wards in the MCD elections. But we lost by small margins in a lot of wards. What we are trying to find out is also why the voter turnout was low as it also impacted our performance in the polls,'' says Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan.

Clearly the party does not want to rest on its laurels and realises that it will have to work even harder if it has to smell victory in the Assembly elections. The leaders also know full well that the atmosphere in which the MCD polls were held favoured them extensively.

"In our favour"

"We had everything going in our favour during these elections. People were angry due to increases in the prices of all commodities, fast running electricity meters, poor power and water situation, and corruption in the MCD. Sealing and demolition further acted against the ruling Congress,'' said a senior party leader, adding that even then the party did not manage to draw people out of their homes to vote.

"In a year and a half from now the condition may not be as favourable for the BJP. Being in power in the MCD it would face some amount of anti-incumbency itself. One does not know if the price issue would be as strong then. Also, the Delhi Government is expected to create a lot of visible infrastructure in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and this would again change the mindset of the people somewhat by then,'' reasoned a senior MLA.

In such a scenario, the BJP's introspection is being seen by political observers here as a brave and wise move.

Even its critics believe that the party has shown vision in calling its candidates and discussing the reasons for the low victory or defeat margins and low voter turnout with them. The exercise that began on Monday is expected to throw up some answers that hopefully would help the BJP in the Assembly elections.

Realising the importance of the MCD performing well, Dr. Vardhan has stated that "the BJP Councillors will start working for the people of Delhi from the very first day of their taking charge of the MCD''.

"Work to be monitored"

Expressing the resolve that the BJP will provide a corruption-free, accountable, transparent and service-oriented MCD, he also declared that "the work of the Councillors would be monitored closely'' and they would be required to discharge their responsibility with integrity and dedication.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi

News Update

Stories in this Section