India News | MCD Polls: BJP Might Need Local Face to Take on Kejriwal in Delhi, Say Political Analysts

New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) Having lost two consecutive Assembly polls to the AAP, the BJP's latest defeat in the MCD elections might force the saffron party to redraw its strategy and project a local face to take on the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, say political analysts.

The AAP on Wednesday ended the BJP's 15-year stint in the 250-ward Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) -- trifurcated in 2012 into north, south and east corporations and unified this year -- by winning 134 seats while restricting the BJP to 104 seats.

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However, political analysts said this outcome would not have any bearing on the 2024 General Elections as people's voting pattern during the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2015 and 2020 Assembly elections differed widely.

Political scientist and national coordinator of the Lokniti Network Sandeep Shastri said, "There is no shadow of doubt that Delhi remains a challenge for the BJP. The MCD election was a prestige battle where the BJP had staked a lot of its time and people for campaigning.

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"That it has again lost to the AAP may irk them because the AAP is emerging as a competitor in some senses -- it may not be at the national level but clearly in some pockets."

Shastri said this defeat in Delhi might not reflect any pattern of voting for the urban population for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but the BJP may still require a relook at its strategy for state and local elections.

Echoing a similar sentiment, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies professor Sanjay Kumar said the MCD elections would not have any impact on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It has no significance for either the BJP or the AAP from the perspective of 2024.

"People vote differently in local elections and Lok Sabha polls. It differs from election to election. I think, for Delhi, the BJP might need to think of a face to counter Arvind Kejriwal.

"In the Lok Sabha elections, (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is the face. If there is a need for changing any strategy, it is a local face to take on Kejriwal," Kumar said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)