Having secured a spectacular victory in the Delhi Assembly elections, the BJP is now focused on the next MCD mayoral elections in April. A win here will put the BJP in command of all three levels of governance in the national capital—the Centre, the state, and the municipal body—an emerging ‘triple-engine’ government.
The BJP returned to Delhi’s political landscape after a gap of 27 long years, winning 48 of the total 70 Assembly seats. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) secured only 22 seats, while Congress failed to open its account, marking a double hattrick of zeros for the grand old party in last three Lok Sabha and state assembly elections. This fresh mandate has palpably heightened the BJP’s position to emphatically stamp itself on the mayoral post for the MCD.
MCD Mayor election: What does the number game reflect ?
MCD has 250 elected councillors, besides additional votes of seven Lok Sabha MPs, three Rajya Sabha MPs, and 14 MLAs in the mayor election. Just before the December elections, AAP had a slim majority, with 122 councilors to BJP’s 120; however, those numbers, following the latest electoral exercise, have entirely changed.
Eight BJP councillors who contested the Delhi assembly elections have been elected as MLAs, making their posts in the civic body vacant as one can’t assume two elected offices. Likewise, three AAP members who were councillors in the city state’s civic body have also been elected to the Delhi Assembly. Apart from them, BJP-nominated councillor Rajkumar Bhatia has also been elected to the newly elected state assembly. However, nominated members are not allowed to vote in the elections for mayor.
Also Read: The Big Takeaways From State Assembly Elections Post Lok Sabha 2024
In all, 12 MCD vacancies now require bye-elections. The BJP’s strength now stand at 112, while AAP’s current tally is 119. The outcome of the bye-elections will be very important for the final configurations of the composition of the MCD and the balance of powers.
The BJP’s chances of securing the mayor’s seat have improved in what could turn out to be a closely contested mayoral polls following the recently concluded Assembly elections.
In the last elections for the mayor held in November 2024, the AAP candidate for the Mayor post, Mahesh Khichi had a narrow victory of three votes with 133 votes against the BJP candidate Kishan Lal, who got 130 votes. AAP’s total voting strength at that time comprised 141 councillors and MLAs, while the BJP had 121.
With changing political equations and upcoming bye-elections, the battle for MCD Mayor is set to be very closely contested with buoyant BJP looking confident to secure a ‘third engine’. Incidentally, as per media reports, BJP is also mulling to move a no-confidence motion against the incumbent Mayor who is from the Aam Aadmi Party.
