BJP Delhi Pradesh President Satish Upadhyay with the winning candidates of the MCD by-election during a felicitation function at party office in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)
Smarting under the setback in MCD by elections, the ruling BJP on Tuesday sought to downplay AAP's achievement in the elections, and claimed the Arvind Kejriwal- led party's low vote share was a "proof" that people of Delhi have "rejected" its politics of "lies and arrogance".
BJP finished third in the by election to 13 wards and won three seats only but garnered maximum vote share of 34.11 percent.
AAP finished at the top spot with five wins but could little over 29 per cent votes. Congress finished second with four wins.
Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay said the results "showed the confidence" of people in BJP which "redeemed" itself by polling the maximum votes.
"We see the results of the civic bye-elections as the beginning of the end of the politics of arrogance, anarchy and lies in Delhi as after getting over 52 per cent votes in the Vidhan Sabha elections, the ruling party (AAP) had developed an aura of arrogance around itself which the people of Delhi have rejected and the proof of the same is that its vote share has been restricted to 29 per cent," Mr Upadhyay said.
AAP obtained 29.93 per cent votes whereas Congress polled 24.87 percent votes.
"Definitely there is a slight disappointment over the number of seats won but it is a matter of happiness that people of Delhi have convincingly distanced themselves from the politics of lies and arrogance practised by the AAP," Mr Upadhyaya said.
AAP leaders after its performance in Assembly elections were "constantly claiming a 13-0 sweep" but the people of Delhi have "rejected and restricted" them to just five wards, he said.
Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta claimed that "magic" of Aam Aadmi Party has "vanished" within a year of it coming to power in the state.
"Arvind Kejriwal and his other colleagues had called formation of Aam Aadmi Party a new experiment in politics. That new experiment has not suited the people of Delhi, who have rejected the Aam Aadmi Party," he alleged.
Mr Gupta admitted, however, that BJP's performance was not "as expected", adding they will remove its "weaknesses" after introspection.