MCD bypolls: BJP bags Shalimar Bagh B ward by highest margin; AAP wins Naraina by over 140 votes

New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) The BJP has not only won the Shalimar Bagh B ward, previously represented by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, but also stamped its authority by securing a massive victory margin of more than 10,000 votes, the highest among the 12 MCD wards that went to bypolls on November 30.

The results of the bypolls were declared on Wednesday.

Even the Dwarka B ward, held earlier by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat, was retained by the saffron party with a winning margin of 9,100 votes.

Manisha Devi of the BJP won the seat by comfortably defeating Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Raj Bala, who managed to secure only 4,308 votes.

In 2022, Sehrawat had secured the seat by 6,877 votes.

BJP's Anita Jain won the Shalimar Bagh B ward by defeating AAP's Babita Rana by a margin of 10,101 votes.

In the 2022 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election, Gupta had won the seat by a margin of 7,990 votes.

The Ashok Vihar and Naraina wards witnessed a see-saw battle between the AAP and the BJP, with the former winning Naraina by a slender margin of 148 votes.

AAP's Rajan Arora wrested Naraina from the BJP, which had won it in the previous polls. Umang Bajaj had won the seat in 2022 with a margin of 3,740 votes.

In Ashok Vihar, BJP's Veena Asija got the better of her AAP rival, Seema Goyal, by a margin of only 405 votes.

The AAP has alleged that it won the seat after 10 rounds of counting but during recounting, surprisingly, the seat went to the BJP candidate.

Interestingly, former AAP MLA Rajesh Gupta wanted the party to field his wife from the ward but his request was not accepted. Following this, he joined the BJP last week.

Mundka, which was earlier held by the BJP, saw AAP's Anil emerging victorious by securing 11,740 votes as against the saffron party's Jai Pal, who polled 10,163 votes.

The AAP, however, suffered a big upset in the Chandni Chowk and Chandni Mahal wards, which it earlier held.

In 2022, AAP's Aaley Mohammad Iqbal had won the Chandni Mahal ward by more than 17,100 votes. The ward became vacant after Iqbal won the Matia Mahal seat in the Assembly polls held in February.

In Chandni Mahal, the AAP had to contend with being the runner-up as All India Forward Bloc's (AIFB) Mohammad Imran won comfortably by a margin of 4,692 votes. The AAP had fielded Mudassar Usman from the seat, while its former MLA and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal's father, Shoaib Iqbal, wanted a ticket for his brother-in-law.

The former MLA quit the party and supported the AIFB candidate. In a post in Hindi on X, Aalay Mohammad Iqbal described the victory as the triumph of trust and attributed it to the love his father gets from the people of the area.

The Chandni Chowk ward was won by AAP's Punardeep Singh Sawhney in the 2022 polls by a margin of 1,216 votes. The seat felt vacant after Sawhney was elected as an MLA this year.

BJP's Suman Kumar Gupta defeated AAP's Harsh Sharma by 1,182 votes to secure the ward.

Dichaon Kalan was retained by the BJP with a winning margin of 5,637 votes. Rekha Rani secured 15,282 votes, while AAP's Neetu received 9,645 votes.

AAP's Ram Swaroop Kanojia won the Dakshinpuri ward by 2,262 votes after defeating BJP's Rohini.

In 2022, AAP's Prem Chauhan had won the ward by a handsome margin of 6,088 votes.

Anjum Mandal of the BJP won the Greater Kailash ward by 4,065 votes, defeating AAP's Eeshna Gupta, who was the youngest candidate in the fray.

Sarala Chaudhari of the BJP emerged victorious from the Vinod Nagar ward by 1,769 votes, defeating AAP's Geeta Rawat. PTI SLB RC