MCD polls: AAP records both narrowest, biggest margins of victory in wards

Of Delhi’s 250 municipal wards, 12 saw the winning candidate register a margin of lesser than 200 votes, with eight of these seats going to the BJP, while four went to the AAP. Interestingly, the AAP was able to scrape through with the two lowest margins of victory

As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) documented its first win in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections this year, its candidates recorded both the narrowest and the biggest margins of victory across the Capital’s 250 municipal wards, with south Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park witnessing just 44 votes between the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates, and the AAP candidate beating the Congress candidate by the largest margin of 17,134 votes in Chandani Mahal.

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai and other leaders during celebrations after AAP crossed the majority mark in the MCD polls, at the party headquarters in New Delhi, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. (PTI)

Of Delhi’s 250 municipal wards, 12 saw the winning candidate register a margin of lesser than 200 votes, with eight of these seats going to the BJP, while four went to the AAP. Interestingly, the AAP was able to scrape through with the two lowest margins of victory.

In Chittaranjan Park (ward 171), the AAP’s Ashu Thakur registered 10,443 votes, narrowly beating the BJP’s Kanchan Choudhary, who recorded 10,399 votes. The next lowest margin of victory was 54 votes in Nand Nagri (ward 220) – also benefitting AAP. There, the AAP’s Ramesh Kumar Bisaiya polled 15,959 votes, beating BJP’s KM Rinku, who received 15,905 votes. The next lowest margin of victory was in Alipur (ward 4), where the BJP’s Yogesh (14,929) beat AAP’s Deep Kumar (14,838) by 91 votes.

The other wards with a margin of victory lesser than 200 votes were Shakur Pur (where the BJP won by 104 votes), Molarband (where the AAP won by 127 votes), Raghubir Nagar (the BJP won by 146 votes), Ashok Vihar (the BJP won by 156 votes), Deoli (the BJP won by 164 votes), Burari (the BJP won by 173 votes), Keshopur (the BJP won by 176 votes), Mandawali (the BJP won by 186 votes) and Adarsh Nagar, where the AAP won by 187 votes.

A narrow margin of victory generally indicates indecisiveness among voters in the ward, or that both candidates are equally strong. PK Paul, secretary of East Pakistan Displaced Persons (EPDP) Association, the apex body of resident welfare associations in Chittaranjan Park, said the latter was a more plausible reason for such a close fight. “Both the candidates from the BJP and AAP were equally strong in terms of their presence and promises, and were able to woo a large chunk of the voters,” he said.

At the other end of the spectrum, the single-largest margin for victory across Delhi was in Chandani Mahal (ward 76), helping AAP’s candidate Aaley Mohammed Iqbal register a landslide victory with a margin of 17,134 votes over the Congress’ Mohammad Hamid, who managed to win only 2,065 votes.

Interestingly, the next biggest margin of victory belonged to the Congress, with the party’s Shagufta Chaudhary Zubair winning by a margin of 15,193 votes in northeast Delhi’s Chauhan Banger (ward 227). While she registered 21,131 votes, AAP’s Asma Begum received 5,938 votes. The third-biggest margin of victory was 12,886 votes in Old Delhi’s Bazar Sita Ram (ward 78), with AAP’s Rafia Mahir (16,639) beating Congress’s Seema Tahira (3,753).