AAP to contest from all 100 wards for Ghaziabad local body polls

Buoyed by its performance in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to contest in all the 100 wards of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation for the upcoming local body polls

Buoyed by its performance in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to contest in all the 100 wards of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation for the upcoming local body polls.

Ghaziabad, India - December 08, 2022: Candidates in Dasna Nagar Panchayat have started campaigning with flag banner hoardings, in Ghaziabad, India on Thursday, December 08, 2022. (Photo by Sakib Ali /Hindustan Times)

In the 2017 local body polls, the AAP had contested on 82 seats but failed to secure a win. Office-bearers of the party said that the election results in Delhi and also their encouraging vote share in the Gujarat assembly elections will impact their prospects in the upcoming local body polls in Uttar Pradesh.

“In 2017, we gave tickets to 82 candidates for the corporation and none of them secured a win. Our mayoral candidate also lost. However, this time we are far more organised and will contest all the 100 seats for the post of councillors and also for the mayoral seat in Ghaziabad,” said Sachin Sharma, AAP’s Ghaziabad district president.

Sharma said that the AAP has also formed a strategy to strengthen their organisation and will welcome dissidents and leaders from the other parties.

“This way, we will allow our organisation to grow further and suitable candidates who join us from other parties may also be offered tickets. We will improve healthcare facilities and schools and also focus on cleanliness if voted to power,” Sharma added.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, rejected AAP’s claims of doing well in the Ghaziabad local body polls.

“Our party has no major opposition and we will surely come out with flying colours. The issues in the MCD elections in the national capital and the ones in Ghaziabad are different,” said Sanjeev Sharma, BJP’s Ghaziabad city president.

To be sure, the BJP has bagged the seat of Ghaziabad mayor for successive terms since 1994, when the status of the municipal board was upgraded to corporation.

The BJP has 57 councillors in the 100 municipal wards of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation and the mayoral seat is also held by the saffron party.

Meanwhile, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) office-bearers also said that they will contest in all the 100 wards.

“During the last elections in 2017, we fielded around 50 candidates in as many wards, but this time we will contest in all the 100 wards as well as the mayoral seat. Our main contest is with the BJP, whose presence is restricted in urban segments. The AAP has no presence here,” said Virender Jatav, BSP’s Ghaziabad district president.

The BSP has 12 councillors in the corporation.

The Congress also said that they will be fielding candidates for all the 100 wards in Ghaziabad.

“Last time, we fielded about 85 candidates but this time we will contest in all the wards. Our party’s show in the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections will also motivate our party cadres here. A state level ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ will also pass through Ghaziabad on December 13 and it will further help regroup our party cadres,” said Lokesh Chaudhary, Ghaziabad city president of the Congress.

The party has 14 councillors in the corporation.

Sources said that the announcement of the local body elections is likely to be made this month itself and the state government has already issued a proposed list of reservations for the local bodies.