Delhi civic polls: Half of BJP councillors could be dropped

NEW DELHI: Nearly half of the 135 sitting BJP councillors in the three municipal corporations in Delhi could be dropped in the upcoming civic polls as the party aims to reduce effects of anti-incumbency, sources said.

An area of concern for BJP in the municipal elections scheduled for April is that among the outgoing councillors, over 50 per cent are holding the position for 10-15 years.

There are also many who have served up to four terms, Delhi BJP functionaries said.

Such candidates run the risk of facing strong anti-incumbency.

The people of Delhi understand the problems faced by MCDs due to the fight with the AAP government, but they also evaluate performance of the councillors, said an office-bearer of the party.

"The party wants to get rid of such sitting councillors and fortunately, delimitation has come to our rescue since many of these councillors have got their wards drastically changed and will be dropped automatically," he said.

The biggest benefit BJP will have from the delimitation is that the urban wards where most of the sitting councillors are concentrated have decreased.

"People have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi but they may not like these councillors who are from urban wards," he said.

Before delimitation, the number of urban seats were around 150 and the rest were in outer and rural parts of the city. Now, the situation has reversed with the number of wards in rural and outer areas going up to 150.

These are the areas where BJP has focused with a renewed vigour after the appointment of Manoj Tiwari as state president.

Tiwari, who took over as Delhi BJP president in December last year, celebrated new year with slum-dwellers of Todapur.

His night stays at four unauthorised colonies and slums and a couple of villages in Narela and Najafgarh have highlighted the poor infrastructure in these settlements leading party leaders to attack AAP for neglecting the very people who voted it to power in Delhi.