Old warhorses are Congress saviours

City Mayor and Nizamuddin councillor Farhad Suri won his seat with a thumping margin of about 3,500 votes, reports Ravi Bajpai.

Despite the drubbing at the hands of the BJP, the Congress can seek solace in the fact that several of its top leaders will continue to mark their presence in the new Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House.

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Unlike the 2002 MCD elections, where almost all senior BJP leaders in the MCD had lost badly, high-profile Congress councillors have managed to retain their seats this time around.

City Mayor and Nizamuddin councillor Farhad Suri won his seat with a thumping margin of about 3,500 votes. Over 65 per cent of the residents in the ward voted for him. “My USP is that I am easily accessible. If one has really worked for the residents during his tenure, his chances of winning are quite high,” said Suri.

Another former mayor and sitting councillor, Satbir Singh, also won by a decent margin of 1,200 votes from Mehrauli ward. Singh said his win is in sharp contrast to the last elections when all senior leaders of the BJP had lost their seats. "In this respect, we have certainly done a better job than the BJP," he said.

Former mayor and sitting councillor Jayshree Panwar also just about managed to win the Shahpur Jat seat with a slim margin of about 900 votes. She was earlier the councillor from erstwhile Greater Kailash-I ward. "People have voted for me on the basis of the development work," said Panwar.

Chairman of the Standing Committee of the MCD J.K. Sharma also won his seat from Roshanpura ward. Senior Congress leader and former chairman of the Standing Committee Mukesh Goel also emerged a winner in the Deheer Pur ward.