The BJP registered a huge victory in the Rajouri Garden Assembly bypoll in the national capital on Thursday handing a humiliating defeat to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, which finished a distant third and even lost deposit.
BJP-SAD joint candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa bagged 40,602 seats, over 50 per cent of the total votes polled, in a boost for the saffron party ahead of the April 23 municipal polls. Congress’ Meenakshi Chandela finished second with 25,950 votes while AAP’s Harjeet Singh managed to get only 10,243 votes, less than one-sixth of the total votes polled, and lost deposit.
BJP-SAD candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa leading by a margin of 14,652 votes in Delhi’s #RajouriGardenbypoll, Cong 2nd, AAP at 3rd position pic.twitter.com/EPnXOJvSIm
— ANI (@ANI_news) April 13, 2017
In terms of vote share, the Congress staged a turnaround of sorts by getting around 33 per cent of the total votes cast,in a jump of over 21 per cent over the 2015 Assembly polls. Around 47 per cent of the over 1.6 lakh electors of the west Delhi seat had cast their vote on April 9.
With the victory, the BJP’s tally in the 70-member Delhi Assembly will become four. The Congress does not have any presence in the House. The seat fell vacant early this year after AAP’s Jarnail Singh quit as MLA to contest the Punjab Assembly poll against SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal.
The BJP was quick to celebrate the massive win
बधाई pic.twitter.com/uS2y1fzGhm
— Tajinder Pal S Bagga (@TajinderBagga) April 13, 2017
राजौरी गार्डन सीट पर आज से 2 साल पहले आम आदमी पार्टी जितने वोट से जीती थी आज उतने वोट भी नही पड़े।केजरीवाल जी काठ की हांडी बार बार नही चढ़ती
— Tajinder Pal S Bagga (@TajinderBagga) April 13, 2017
.@ArvindKejriwal proud of u Arvind… Rajouri Garden #ByPollResults
— Nupur Sharma (@NupurSharmaBJP) April 13, 2017
I thank people of Rajouri Garden for displaying their faith in policies of BJP as well as vision & leadership of @narendramodi ji. #Bypolls
— Maheish Girri (@MaheishGirri) April 13, 2017
And here is how other parties reacted:
INC workers have done well to jump from 12% to 38% in just 2 years! AAP loses deposit
Keep the spirit alive-we’ll be the dark horse in MCD!— Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) April 13, 2017
Rajouri Garden by-poll: AAP losing deposit where it won
2015: AAP 47% BJP+ 38% Cong 12%Current count 4th round: BJP+ 50% Cong 33% AAP 10%— Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) April 13, 2017
Very unfortunate that AAP squandered a great opportunity in Delhi & has allowed a corrupt & communal BJP to emerge again https://t.co/Q9B1dN5qym
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) April 13, 2017
AAP’s Dr Kumar Vishwas brought in some poetry :
पानी आँख में भर कर लाया जा सकता है,
अब भी जलता शहर बचाया जा सकता है (अब्बास ताबिश)— Dr Kumar Vishvas (@DrKumarVishwas) April 13, 2017
And here are some other reactions:
The thing to note abt Rajouri Garden bypoll results is not that d BJP is winning, but that it is getting more votes than Cong n AAP combined
— Shefali Vaidya (@ShefVaidya) April 13, 2017
Once again after Rajouri Garden results, some people with tampered minds will start talking abt tampered EVMs
— Scalpels&Forceps (@AkhileshKirane) April 13, 2017
AAP’s debacle in Rajouri Garden tells us that ignoring your girlfriend to flirt with others is never a good idea.
— Utkarsh Shenvi (@shenvitweets) April 13, 2017
Outstanding results coming from Rajouri Garden. AAP is in 3rd place despite using EVM. If ballot papers, we were clear 1st.. #ByPollResults
— Arvind Kejriwal (@KejriTrolls) April 13, 2017
(Feature image source: Twitter| Mrigank Tyagi)