The Congress on Saturday announced that party councillors will support AAP candidates in the Mayoral elections of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on April 26. The Congress said that this support is also due to the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who is in jail in the alleged excise policy linked money laundering case.
Former MLA and the chairman of the Delhi Congress Committee's communications department Anil Bhardwaj said senior leaders held a meeting during which it was decided that the party would support AAP candidates in the polls. “Even though AAP and Congress have a pre-poll alliance through the INDIA bloc, which is together fighting and campaigning to protect the democracy of the country, this support to AAP for Mayoral elections is a separate thing,” he said. The announcement to this effect was jointly made by the communication department chairman of the Delhi Congress and former MLA Anil Bhardwaj, the party's MCD in-charge Jitendra Kumar Kochhar and its leader in the MCD House, Nazia Danish, at the press conference held at Rajiv Bhawan.
AAP has fielded Mahesh Khichi for the post of mayor and Ravinder Bhardwaj for deputy mayor for the MCD mayoral elections. Khichi (45), who represents Dev Nagar ward number 84 in the MCD House, has been associated with the AAP since its inception in 2012. He was also a part of the 2011 India Against Corruption (IAC) movement that led to the birth of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. Opposition BJP has fielded Kishan Lal for the post of mayor and Neeta Bisht for the deputy mayor's post.
The AAP on Saturday welcomed the decision of the Congress to support its candidates in the upcoming Delhi mayoral polls. Addressing a press conference after Congress decision , senior Aam Aadmi Party leader and the party's Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in-charge Durgesh Pathak expressed confidence that the AAP-Congress alliance will win the April 26 polls by a huge margin. "We welcome this move (of the Congress). Together, we will fight against dictatorship and a corrupt government. The AAP and the Congress will together contest the MCD election and win the polls by a huge margin," Pathak said.
