Congress reduced to 9 seats in MCD polls after split in Muslim vote

The party’s campaign against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and a reminder of the work done under the leadership of former chief minister Sheila Dikshit didn’t resonate with people, as its vote share plummeted to 11.68% from 21.09% in 2017 municipal polls

The Congress registered its worst-ever performance in the Delhi municipal elections on Wednesday, as its number of seats was reduced to a single-digit count--nine--in the 250-ward civic body. Its leaders, meanwhile, acknowledge that fielding of candidates from political families and the split in Muslim votes helped the party win the seats.

Delhi Congress office wears a deserted look on counting day of the MCD Polls, in New Delhi, Wednesday. (PTI)

The party’s campaign against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and a reminder of the work done under the leadership of former chief minister Sheila Dikshit didn’t resonate with people, as its vote share plummeted to 11.68% from 21.09% in 2017 municipal polls. However, the party’s vote share increased from 4.26% in the 2020 assembly elections largely due to the spilt in Muslim votes. The party won Chauhan Banger, Zakir Nagar, Abu Fazal Enclave, Kabir Nagar, Aya Nagar, Nihal Vihar, Shastri Park, Brij Puri and Mustafabad municipal wards. Of the nine wards, seven have a sizable Muslim population.

The Congress won northeast Delhi’s riot-affected areas such as Chauhan Banger, Brij Puri, Mustafabad and Kabir Nagar with victory margins varying between 2,118 and 15,193. It also won south Delhi’s Abul Fazal Enclave and Zakir Nagar, and east Delhi’s Shastri Park by margins of 1,479, 473, and 3,049 votes.

According to senior Congress leader Chattar Singh, the election witnessed a split in Muslim votes due to the community’s disenchantment with the ruling AAP in Delhi because of its soft-Hindutva politics and silence on issues such as communal riots that battered northeast Delhi in 2020.

“The Muslim community is disenchanted with the AAP, as the party did not support them either during the communal riots or the central government’s action against the congregation at the Nizamuddin Markaz during the pandemic. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s recent suggestion to have lord Ganesh and goddess Laxmi’s pictures on currency notes has also not gone down well with the community and some people think that he is anti-Muslim. Most people are now supporting the Congress.”

Senior party leaders also said that the party won certain wards this time due to the presence of candidates from political families.

Former five-time MLA Chaudhary Mateen Ahmed’s daughter-in-law, Shagufta Chaudhary, won from northeast Delhi’s Chauhan Banger, which was affected by communal riots in 2020, by 15,193 votes--the second-highest victory margin this time (AAP candidate from Chandni Mahal ward Aaley Muhammad Iqbal, son of AAP MLA from Matia Mahal Shoeb Iqbal, won by a margin of over 17,000 votes). Ahmed’s son Zubair Chaudhary (Shagufta’s husband) had won the municipal bypoll from this ward by a margin of 10,642 votes in 2021.

Former Congress MLA Asif Mohammad Khan’s daughter, Ariba Khan, won from Abu Fazal Enclave, and three-time Congress councillor Shoaib Danish’s wife Naziya Danish won from Zakir Nagar. Former councillor Mandeep Singh, son of former MLA Bijender Singh, won from Nihal Vihar, while former councillor Vedpal’s wife, Sheetal, won from Aya Nagar. Nazia Khatoon (Brij Puri ward) and Sabila Begum (Mustafabad ward) are wives of local Congress leaders, while Zarif is a local party worker from Kabir Nagar.

The Congress, which ruled the city for 15 years between 1998 and 2013, has been struggling to revive itself in the city after its rout in the 2013 assembly elections, but in vain.

Delhi Congress vice-president Abhishek Dutt said, “The results are not what we had expected. We will have to re-strategise and start work on the ground again.”