Delhi Mayoral Polls: The Congress on Thursday distanced itself from voting and contesting the Delhi Mayor and Deputy Mayor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). With Congress's exit, the election now remains a two-cornered contest between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
The elections for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts for the third term, which is reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate, are underway at the MCD House.
As per the MCD rules, Mayoral elections are held annually in April for a five-year tenure comprising of single-year rotational tenures. Therefore, this year it is supposed to be a councillor from the Dalit community. Both AAP and the BJP had announced their candidates in April this year, but due to infighting between the parties, the elections got delayed, which in turn truncated the term of the new Mayor till April 2025.
AAP holds the majority in the MCD, while BJP also has a significant number of members in the Opposition. Among the total 250 councillors, eight belong to the Congress, after Shagufta Chaudhary defected to the AAP. BJP has around 114 councillors, seven MPs, and one MLA, totaling roughly 122 votes. On the other hand, AAP has 127 councillors, Rajya Sabha MPs, and 13 MLAs. Although AAP has an advantage, the risk of cross-voting looms.
The AAP has fielded Mahesh Khichi, the councillor from Devnagar, for Mayor, and Ravinder Bharadwaj, the Aman Vihar councillor, for the Deputy post. The BJP has nominated Kishan Lal for Mayor and Nita Bisht Deputy Mayor.
Earlier this year, Congress had hinted at the boycott, but now the party has confirmed its decision, which it announced on Thursday--the day of the polls. The grand old party had also abstained from voting in the Standing Committee member election held in September.
At that time all the Congress councilors along with Delhi Congress President Devender Yadav met at the party office, where they announced their decision to abstain from voting, citing the reason as lack of opportunities for Congress councilors to work in their constituencies.
Additionally, the party does not have many members and has no alliances with any party either in the national capital. Despite Congress and AAP contesting the Lok Sabha under the INDIA alliance, the parties failed to finalise seat sharing formula for the Assembly elections, resulting in the Congress deciding to stay away from the corporation elections.
The Congress had also demanded that it wants the newly-elected Mayor to serve a full one-year term, instead of a shorter term that will end in April 2025, PTI reported.
BJP Committed To Serving Delhi: Bansuri Swaraj
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj said that all seven MPs of the party have cast their votes for the Mayor election. She also said that the party is committed to serving Delhi and would address the "inefficiencies" caused by the AAP if chosen.
"The Mayor election is taking place today, and all seven MPs have cast their votes. I would like to assure the people of Delhi that if BJP is chosen for the positions of Mayor and Deputy Mayor today, we will work diligently to address the inefficiencies caused by the Aam Aadmi Party's governance in MCD. The BJP is committed to serving the people of Delhi with dedication," she said.
(With inputs from Madiha)