New Delhi: A close competition between Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party is on the cards in the coming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, with the participation of women candidates and delimitation will have a big impact on the elections.
Many women candidates will be competing in the elections from both the parties. The number of women candidates contesting from the AAP is 150 out of its total of 250 candidates. The BJP has not been seen lagging in this regard and has fielded 136 women candidates.
The reduction in the number of wards due to delimitation will directly affect the chances of many candidates. The caste equation will also also play a key role.
The areas of many wards have been increased or reduced after the delimitation. The number of voters has also decreased in 23 wards, which include only 7 of the West Delhi constituency.
A neck to neck competition is expected owing to the changes in ward areas, number of voters and caste equation. The candidates will also have a hard time converting the appeal into votes from the designated wards.
In the 150 women candidates from the AAP, 21 are from the Scheduled Caste.
The efficacy of the strategy used by both the parties of giving maximum representation to women will only be proved in time. This was not the scenario in the 2017 elections and it is expected to make the upcoming elections more decisive.
Both AAP and BJP have issued the least number of tickets to their sitting corporators. Out of the saffron party’s first list of 232 candidates, the tickets of many present corporators have been cancelled.
In the 2017 MCD elections, only 61 corporators out of 182 got tickets from the BJP.
The Aam Aadmi Party has changed all the candidates except one for the upcoming elections. The party also sent a clear message of showing confidence by providing tickets only to the workers who were active on the ground level in the last 5 years.
Several new candidates contesting in the elections will also make the competition more interesting.
