The BJP is gearing up to corner Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as it is hopeful of conducting the municipal polls in Delhi in December along with the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, according to sources.
The AAP, which has been struggling over the past few months to take additional political ground in the country, hopes to fill the vacuum created by Congress, which is at present in its lowest political phase and will be fighting the upcoming elections for the first time without its veteran leader Ahmed Patel.
However, the BJP is looking to contain the Arvind Kejriwal-led party as it hopes for dates of Delhi’s civic body polls near the scheduled Assembly elections in Gujarat.
Sources further said the BJP feels AAP would be pressed if it has to fight on three fronts together, including Himachal Pradesh.
“With the AAP government in power in national capital, it will need to fight the MCD polls with all its might to secure the civic body. A loss in Delhi would prove to be disastrous for the AAP as it would lead to a perception that Arvind Kejriwal-led party is losing grip in the city,” a BJP source said.
A senior BJP leader said after the Centre has fixed the maximum number seats in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) at 250 from 272 seats earlier, and the first phase of delimitation to be completed soon, it will take some months for the administration to prepare for the polls.
In fact, the MCD polls, which are likely to be held anytime in the next few months, are expected to play a crucial role in gauging the mood of national capital’s voters ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election as all seven seats from Delhi have elected BJP nominees in 2014 and 2019.
BJP’s central leadership has apparently moved directly to devise a strategy to take on the Arvind Kejriwal government as it hopes to retain power in the city’s important and powerful civic body.
“We have been asked to begin our preparation. The delimitation is likely to be completed soon and looking at the pace of the work, we believe MCD polls will take place in December alongside the Gujarat election,” added a senior BJP leader.
The MCD is one of the richest and most powerful civic bodies in the country. It will be the first civic poll in the city after the reunification of the MCD and both BJP and AAP want to secure a win.
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