This was not my election: Sheila Dikshit

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit appeared to wash her hands of the Congress loss in the civic polls and said it was not her election.

"This was not my election; when we contest, we will see what happens... it was the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) election. Whatever shortcomings were there, we have improved our tally," Dikshit said a day after the the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained control of the trifurcated municipal corporation in the city.

"It is no one's responsibility... Our seats have increased, so has our vote share, and BJP has won by a narrow margin. We will deliberate on the details," she told reporters.

The BJP won in 138 of the 272 wards in the three newly created municipal corporations of Delhi while the Congress secured victory in 78 wards. The BJP lost 26 seats as compared to 2007 when it had won 164 seats, and the Congress tally went up from 64 to 78 seats.

Dikshit, who is in her third consecutive term as chief minister, agreed that price-rise was an issue.

"Price-rise was an issue, though MCD has no relation with price-rise...," she said. "Is corruption lesser in MCD?" she asked.

BJP leaders Tuesday said price-rise and corruption by Congress-led central and state governments was the reason behind the party's defeat in the civic polls.

The chief minister refused to agree that trifurcation of the MCD had anything to do with the results.

"MCD trifurcation will not benefit us, it will benefit Delhi administration," she said.