MCD Elections Results 2017: After a dismal performance, AAP office wore a deserted look in Delhi. (PTI)
Over 70 per cent of the 2,516 candidates, including 40 of the AAP and 92 of the Congress party, lost their security deposit in the Delhi's closely-followed MCD elections. "As many as 1,790 candidates lost their deposit. In the 2012 municipal polls, 1,782 out of the 2,423 candidates in the fray had forfeited their deposit," Delhi State Election Commissioner S K Srivastava told reporters. The security deposit is forfeited if a candidate fails to garner a minimum of 1/6th of the total number of valid votes.
Among other parties who contested in the election, "192 of the BSP and 94 of the JD(U), 55 of the 56 Shiv Sena candidates forfeited their deposit," he said.
The BJP, which scored a hat-trick in the municipal polls with a resounding victory, saw a mere five of its candidates losing their deposit. In 2012, 18 BJP contestants had lost their deposits, while the figure for the Congress was 26.
"In 2012, 203 candidates of the BSP, 18 of the BJP, and 26 of the Congress, had to forfeit security," he said.
The BJP won 181 out of 270 wards for which the elections were held last Sunday on April 23. The party added muscle to its decade-long domination of the corporations effortlessly bucking anti-incumbency by riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In all the three municipal corporations, the BJP candidates won by the highest margins. BJP's Sanjeev Kapoor left the AAP's Naveen Gupta behind by 9,332 votes in Krishna Nagar (East DMC) seat.
The BJP's corporation-wise tally is: SDMC - 70, NDMC - 64 and EDMC - 47 as against the AAP's tally of 16, 21 and 11 respectively. The Congress finished last with 12, 15 and 3 wards.
(With inputs from IANS and PTI)