Delhi MCD ward committee polls: BJP bags 8 of 12 zones, AAP gets 3

Monday’s ward committee elections — held to appoint chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of zonal ward committees and fill two vacant seats in the Standing Committee — witnessed intense political jostling at the MCD headquarters, where polling took place between 10 am and 5 pm.

The BJP, which has steadily rebuilt dominance over the civic body, despite the loss in the 2022 civic body polls, registered an unopposed win in the Keshavpuram and Central zones.

In the zonal committee polls held last year, the AAP had secured five of the 12 zones, but it has faced a series of defections since, including the formation of a new political front of its rebel councillors — the Indraprastha Vikas Party (IVP). The anti-defection law does not apply to the MCD, and the AAP has seen its numbers drop in the MCD from 134 to 97 in the last two years.

The IVP, which had gotten into a backdoor alliance with the BJP and had filed nominations in two zones (Civil Lines and Rohini), lost both seats to the AAP. In Rohini, considered a bellwether zone, a mixed response was seen. AAP managed to hold onto the president’s post, while BJP snatched the vice-president seat—an outcome that raised eyebrows amid reports of cross-voting. The AAP candidate for president received 11 votes, narrowly defeating IVP’s tally of 10, while the BJP’s candidate for vice-president secured 11 votes against AAP’s 10.

The elections for one vacant seat in Standing Committe will be held Tuesday.

Congress, which has eight councillors in the MCD, meanwhile, accused the BJP and AAP of having a “tacit understanding.”

Nazia Danish, Congress’s Leader of Opposition in the MCD, cited the unopposed victory of the BJP’s candidate in the Central Zone following the withdrawal of AAP’s Sarika Chaudhary. “There is an internal agreement between the two parties. The withdrawal of AAP’s candidate without contest is a clear indication that the battle is merely performative,” Danish alleged.

Expressing happiness over the BJP’s victory in the ward committee, Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh said that this is a victory for the people of Delhi and will further strengthen the city’s development. “A new era of development is set to begin. Under the AAP government, politics was prioritised over development. Now, with the BJP in power, citizens will be provided with improved civic amenities.”

AAP Delhi convenor Saurabh Bharadwaj took a jibe at the BJP and said, “Despite 15 councillors leaving the party and forming a new faction with BJP’s support, AAP retains control over 4 out of 5 zones.” The party’s leader of Opposition at the MCD, Ankush Narang, said, “Just like Delhi Assembly, AAP will play the role of strong opposition in MCD & continue to raise people’s voices.”