Delhi MCD bypoll results: BJP loses 2 seats but gains momentum in vote share; AAP support weakens as civic map reshuffles

NEW DELHI: The results of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) by-elections were declared Wednesday, with BJP winning seven of the 12 seats, AAP securing 3, Congress 1, and the All India Forward Bloc opening its account with a victory in Chandni Mahal.With the latest outcome, BJP now has 123 seats in the 250-member House-three short of the majority mark of 126. AAP holds 101 seats, Congress 9, and Forward Bloc 1. Indraprastha Vikas Party (IVP), which did not contest the bypolls, continues to have 15 councillors, along with one independent. A major setback for AAP came from Chandni Mahal, a seat it won with the highest margin in the 2022 MCD polls but where it fell to second place this time.

Forward Bloc's Mohammad Imran, backed by former MLA and ex-AAP leader Shoaib Iqbal, won by 4,692 votes, marking the party's entry into the MCD.

The seat fell vacant after AAP's Aaley Mohammad Iqbal won the Matia Mahal Assembly seat in Feb. AAP fielded Muddasir Usman Qureshi, while BJP nominated Sunil Sharma. Shoaib Iqbal, who quit AAP on November 9 after being denied a ticket for his preferred candidate, campaigned extensively for Imran.

It was a mixed bag for BJP, which previously held 9 of these 12 seats, but managed to retain only 7. It lost Sangam Vihar-A and Mundka, both linked to what party members described as public discontent with local BJP MLAs. But at the same time, its vote share rose by nearly 6%, AAP's fell sharply - from 42% in the 2022 civic election to 34% this time. Congress, which won one ward, saw a modest rise from 11.6% to 13.4%.

In Sangam Vihar-A-vacated by BJP's Chandan Choudha-ry after her Assem-bly win-Congress candidate Suresh Choudhary won by 3,628 votes.However, BJP secured the largest victory margin of the bypolls in Shalimar Bagh-B, where Anita Jain won by 10,101 votes. The seat was held by CM Rekha Gupta, who resigned after becoming MLA.In Greater Kailash, BJP's Anjum Mandal defeated AAP candidate Eeesha Gupta by a margin of 4,065 votes. The seat was vacated after former deputy mayor Shikha Rai entered the assembly. AAP fielded its student-wing president Eeshna Gupta as part of an organisational push led by Saurabh Bharadwaj.BJP also reclaimed the Chandni Chowk seat from AAP. BJP's Suman Kumar Gupta secured 7,825 votes, defeating AAP's Harsh Sharma (6,643) by 1,182 votes. One of the closest contests came from Naraina, where AAP's Rajan Arora won by just 148 votes. BJP's Chandrakanta Shivani led until the second-last round of counting before Arora pulled ahead, finishing with 10,423 votes to Shivani's 10,275.Across the 12 wards, 269,992 votes were polled, including 2,604 Nota votes (0.96%).

Polling was conducted at 580 stations across 143 locations, staffed by 2,320 personnel, supported by a reserve force of 464, taking total deployment to 2,784.State Election Commission said counting across 10 centres was conducted smoothly with all required arrangements in place. State Election Commissioner Vijay Dev noted that electoral rolls were provided in alphabetical order this time, easing the process for polling staff.

"We introduced several reforms in these elections and plan to implement more to encourage greater voter participation," he said. The bypolls were held on Nov 30 with 51 candidates in the fray.

The seats fell vacant after councillors were elected as MLAs or MPs.In the 2022 civic elections, AAP emerged as the single largest party with 134 seats. However, the political landscape shifted ahead of the April 2025 mayoral polls, when 16 AAP councillors defected to form the Indraprastha Vikas Party, giving the BJP a crucial numerical advantage-enabling it to form its mayor.