Factionalism, wrong choice of candidate and fragmented campaign are some of the reasons cited for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) defeat in the Bawana bypoll. Not only did the party lose the seat but its vote share also went down by four percentage points in comparison to the 2015 assembly elections.
BJP candidate Ved Parkash secured 35,834 votes, which is 27.16 per cent of the total votes polled. The party’s vote share was 31.40 per cent and 46.72 per cent in 2015 and 2014, respectively.
Even in the municipal elections held in February, the BJP secured 53,830 votes (32.47 per cent) in six wards of Bawana assembly constituency.
The party’s state leadership was stumped by the fact that the party could not take a lead even in a single round. It was trailing since the beginning of the counting.
The outcome is being seen as a big setback considering the party was on a roll till early this year scoring an impressive win in the municipal elections and Rajouri Garden bypoll. “Internal bickering in the party is to be blamed,” said a party insider.
The source said that a section of the BJP in Delhi was not pleased with the way a senior leader managed ticket for turncoat Ved Parkash despite opposition from many quarters. Parkash had won the 2015 assembly election from Bawana on an AAP ticket. Days before the MCD polls in April, he switched over to the BJP.
