Riding high on the 'Modi wave' and launching all new faces propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party to a clean sweep in the Delhi civic polls.
With this victory, the saffron party is all set to retain the three Municipal Corporations for the third term in a row. The saffron party grabbed 181 seats, bettering its 2012 tally of 138 wards.
The party registered a 36.37 percent vote share, followed by 26.23 percent for the Aam Aadmi Party and 20.11 per cent for Congress.
With this victory, BJP managed to silence naysayers who doubted its return to power due to the rampant corruption in the civic bodies.
The BJP now faces the enormous task of delivering on key issues, such as sanitation in the municipalities.
Bold decision
Ahead of the MCD elections, BJP had decided to give out tickets exclusively to new candidates and chose not to retain any of its sitting corporators, regardless of their stature and clout.
This was seen as a tactic that Prime Minister Narendra Modi used in Gujarat when he was the state's Chief Minister.
The gamble seemed to have paid off richly, as many of its candidates won by a significant margin.
Face off
To counter its tag of promoting candidates with corporate backing, BJP chose to appoint North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari as its Delhi unit president.
The decision was taken keeping in mind the fact that he had a strong appeal with lower-middle class Purvanchali voters, who turned out to be a crucial electorate in Delhi. Tiwari, a popular Bhojpuri actor and singer, managed to lure the crucial vote bank towards the BJP.
According to Tiwari, BJP had started it public outreach programme in the beginning of 2016 itself. Political opponents, Tiwari said, were busy in negative publicity and playing the politics of "accuse and abuse".
'Accuse and Abuse politics'
"Getting to the magic figure in the civic polls is not just a one day mandate," the BJP Delhi president said. "I started the process of understanding the problems and aspiration of the downtrodden in the society through contacts and staying with schedule caste families in a Valmiki Basti of Karol Bagh."
Tiwari said that BJP's approach trumped over AAP's "accuse and abuse politics" and made Delhiites look for a new option.
Introspection time for AAP
The results also expose some chinks in the AAP's armour and raise questions on the leadership ability of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. It is to be seen whether Delhiites will be soon disenchanted with the rulingparty.
It is also believed that the impact of the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh was a driving factor to the party's victory on Wednesday.
It may be pointed out here that AAP's loss is its second in Delhi after it finished an abysmal third in the Rajouri Garden by-election, which was won by BJP as well.