The results have special significance, for it has come at a time when the Modi government is hell bent on selling large number government assets to private parties, on implementing three farm laws against the wish of farmers, and on administering the four labour codes against the desire of the working class. Moreover, by anchoring on communal Hindutva card, the BJP hopes to gain considerably in the forthcoming assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry. However, the Delhi civic by polls result has come in continuance of the humiliating defeat that it had to face recently in the Punjab civic urban bodies elections. The gain, which is actually a loss of 27 seats to AAP, in the Gujarat civic bodies election for the BJP can be explained as Gujarati pride that ignored the hardship created by a Gujarati Prime Minister.

Since Delhi is a National Capital Territory, it is a Union Territory directly under the Union Government led by the BJP, of course with an assembly and the state government is led by the Aam Aadmi Party. The fate of the people of the state is therefore dependent on performance of both the parties in their respective areas, such as law and order or lands under the Central and the development under the state government. It is therefore both the parties tried their best to evoke certain sentiments of the voters against their political incumbents. The results show that the sentiments of anti-establishment against the AAP did not work and the party could win 4 of the five seats. On the other hand the anger of the people worked against the BJP, that suffered humiliating defeat by losing even the seat it had won last time. Congress win for one seat is indicative of the people’s sentiment that they still are not preferring the party to AAP in Delhi.

There is also another importance of these civic body bypolls in Delhi because the elections to the Delhi municipal corporations are due next year. It has a clear message to the BJP for 2022 elections, as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state and AAP leader Manish Sisodia has aptly put it. People of Delhi have not been happy with the BJP for a year for several reasons which included the mishandling of riots in the beginning of 2020 and the situation emerged after putting the nation capital under lockdown. In spite of the BJP putting blame for all the mishandling on the AAP government, the allegations had clearly no effect on the electoral prospect of AAP.

Kalyanpuri, Rohini-C, Trilokpuri, and Shalimar Bagh wards were won by the AAP candidates while the Congress secured victory in Chauhan Bangar. It has given a little hope also for the Congress. However, for the BJP, it was all frustrating, because the party had earlier held one of the seats, which it could not manage even to retain. These MCD-by elections results show that the people are fed up with the BJP. The BJP is also a very weak opposition in the Delhi Assembly, but it would be worth mentioning that it is controlling all three of the national capital's municipal bodies after the 2017 victory. The loss of the BJP in these bypolls is thus has great political significance.

The impressive gains for AAP further frustrates all hopes of the BJP for the coming elections, whether they are the forthcoming assembly elections for the five states within weeks, as also election of Delhi municipal polls in 2022. In Kalyanpuri AAP’s Dhirender Kumar won by 7,043 votes. In Trilokpuri AAP’s Vijay Kukar defeated BJP’s Om Prakash by a margin of 4,986 votes while in Shalimar Bagh Sunita Mishra defeated Surbhi Jaju of the BJP by 2,705 votes. The defeat of the BJP candidate in Shalimar Bagh is noteworthy because the seat was held by them. Ram Chander of the AAP defeated BJP’s Rakesh Goyal by 2,985 votes in Rohini-C.

The elections held in recent months in the Punjab, Gujarat, and Delhi have thrown a definite pattern of dwindling prospects of the BJP on the one hand, and rising trend of the anti-BJP political parties on the other. It shows the weakening of the communal polarization of Hindus for the BJP and general dissatisfaction among the people against it for its dismal performance and anti-people policies. If the opposition political parties will be able to consolidate their gains, the BJP will be in serious trouble – even in the forthcoming assembly elections of the five states. (IPA Service)