In another blow to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, three AAP councilors switched over to the BJP on Saturday, boosting its chances of victory in the upcoming MCD mayoral poll. The three councilors are Anita Basoya (Andrews Ganj), Nikhil Chaprana (Hari Nagar) and Dharamvir (R K Puram). With the joining of three AAP Councillors, BJP has a majority in the MCD.
Welcoming the councilors, city BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said Delhi will have a "triple engine" government -- at the Centre, assembly and municipal level -- at the right time to develop it as the capital of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision under a 'Viksit Bharat".
Sachdeva said the councilors joined the BJP to make Delhi a clean and beautiful city. In the wake of its recent resounding victory in the Assembly polls, the BJP is eyeing a "triple-engine government" in Delhi by securing the post of mayor. The BJP won 48 of the 70 Assembly seats, ousting the AAP from power after a decade.
During the press conference, Media Head Praveen Shankar Kapoor remarked that the truth is, "AAP was being held together by the glue of power, but soon, all nationalist workers will abandon it."
The mayoral election is scheduled to be held in April. The AAP had won the last mayoral election, held in November 2024, by three votes.
Besides the councilors, the seven Lok Sabha MPs (all of BJP), three Rajya Sabha MPs (all of AAP) and 14 nominated MLAs in Delhi are voters in the polls for mayor and deputy mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. With the joining of the three councilors, the BJP tally is now higher than that of the AAP.
The BJP is also going to have 10 of its MLAs nominated to the MCD, while the AAP will have four nominations for the civic body, said BJP leaders. In the February 5 Assembly polls, eight BJP councilors and three AAP councillors got elected to the assembly.
In December 2022, the AAP had ended 15 years of rule the BJP in the municipal corporation. The AAP had won 134 wards, the BJP 104, the Congress nine, and Independents three. In 2022, 2023 and 2024 mayoral polls, AAP succeeded to elect its mayors. In 2024 mayoral polls, AAP candidate got elected but the victory margin was just 3 as the winning party candidate got 133 votes while losing party got 130 votes.
With the joining of three councillors into the saffron camp and three have been elected as MLAs, AAP's total number in civic agency has reduced from 121 to 115. The BJP had 120 councillors out of which 8 have been elected MLAs hence its number is also 115. Besides the councilors, the seven Lok Sabha MPs (all of BJP), three Rajya Sabha MPs (all of AAP), and 14 nominated MLAs (10 BJP & 4 AAP) in Delhi are voters in the polls for mayor and deputy mayor of the MCD. With the joining of the three councilors, the BJP tally is now higher than that of the AAP.
