New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party registered a victory in the Rajouri Garden bye-election in Delhi as counting of votes ended on Thursday. BJP candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa won the Rajouri Garden bypoll by 14652 votes, defeating Congress candidate Meenakshi Chandela. The Aam Aadmi Party, who was the winner at this seat in 2015, was a dismal third today and even lost its deposit as party candidate Harjeet Singh could not get one-sixth of the total votes polled.
The Rajouri Garden seat was left vacant by AAP MLA Jarnail Singh who left the constituency to contest the Punjab Assembly Elections earlier this year. In 2015, Jarnail Singh had defeated Sirsa by over 10,000 votes. However, the tables turned on Thursday as Sirsa emerged victorious and the AAP was third. Soon after winning the election, Sirsa said, “This win will reflect in the MCD Elections too. It is clear that the people are now rejecting the AAP. We will win MCD.” Delhi BJP leader Manoj Tiwari also congratulated Sirsa and said that the BJP will win over 220 seats out of 272 in the MCD Polls.
On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party conceded defeat saying the party may have failed to pacify people after Jarnail Singh left the seat. Speaking on the defeat, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, “People were angry after Jarnail Singh left the seat. We tried our best to pacify them. But the results tell us that we couldn’t do that. But we will come back in the MCD Elections.”
The Congress, meanwhile, has called it ‘good work’ by the party. Congress candidate Meenakshi Chandela garnered over 30 per cent vote share in the Rajouri Garden bypoll. Commenting on the Congress’s surge at the Rajouri Garden seat, Congress leader Ajay Maken said, “INC workers have done well to jump from 12% to 38% in just 2 years! AAP loses deposit Keep the spirit alive-we’ll be the dark horse in MCD!”
