New Delhi

BJP defeats Congress in MCD by-poll

Staff Reporter

Meira Kanwaria trounces Seema Luthra by a comfortable 5,175 votes for the Subhash Nagar seat

V FOR VICTORY: BJP candidate Meira Kanwaria flanked by Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan and senior party leader Harsharan Singh Balli during a victory procession on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: In a setback to the Congress Government and party in the Capital, the Bharatiya Janata Party won the Subhash Nagar municipal by-election on Tuesday with Meira Kanwaria defeating Seema Luthra of the Congress by a convincing margin of 5,175 votes.

Polling for the seat was held on Sunday and counting of votes was taken up on Tuesday. Since morning the trend was clear: the Congress was nowhere in contention despite a 45.09 per cent turnout of voters on polling day. While Ms. Kanwaria, who had lost the last election in 2002 by a margin of 1,002 votes, polled 16,721 votes this time round, Ms. Luthra managed 11,096 votes of the total of 27,878 votes polled.

Low turnout

The rather low turnout of voters was attributed to public disenchantment and resentment over the poor power and water situation. However, the BJP candidate's margin of victory in such a low turnout is being termed as a ``serious development'' for the ruling Congress.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Jagdish Mukhi, was quick to demand resignation of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. He also sought dissolution of the Congress-ruled MCD as the people had lost faith in it and had passed their verdict against corruption and inefficiency.

Acknowledging that in a democracy one side or the other had to lose, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ram Babu Sharma said the party would look into the entire scenario that led to the defeat of its candidate and take corrective measures.

The outcome of the by-election has certainly left the Congress MLAs and Councillors worried, especially as the Municipal elections are due early next year.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu