Kejriwal Sober After MCD Win As BJP Retains Presence In Stronghold

In the fiercely contested elections to Municipal Corporation of Delhi which saw the Aam Aadmi Party edge out the BJP after 15 years of presiding over the civic body by winning 134 out of 250 municipal wards, AAP supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal came across as a humble man. Maybe the results had a sobering effect on him — for a party that had vowed to restrict BJP to 20 wards, AAP fared poorly in Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and his jailed minister Satyender Jain’s assembly segments. The BJP went on to secure 104 wards. “We need cooperation from all, especially the help and blessings of the Centre and PM to improve Delhi,” he said. For a start, these words may have been enough to soften bruised ego but the BJP is unlikely to fall for it. In fact it doesn’t view the civic poll results as a setback. “We wanted an honourable exit from the MCD. That is what we have got”, conceded a top BJP poll strategist. In fact the idea of getting high profile campaigners for street corner meetings was to ensure that the party has an adequate presence in the MCD. “If our senior leaders hadn’t made this effort, AAP could have restricted us to 50-60 wards. At least we managed to reach three-digit”, pointed out a leader.