MCD ward committee poll process kicks off, 67 councillors in the race

Arriving at the office of Municipal Secretary Shiva Prasad, AAP workers raised slogans of ‘Arvind Kejriwal Zindabad’ while showering candidates with rose petals and garlanding them. AAP filed nominations in 11 of 12 zones.

BJP, on its part, raised slogans of ‘kyun pade ho chakkar mai, koi nahi hai takkar mai” as councillors filed nominations in 10 zones. They were accompanied by West Delhi MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Northwest Delhi MP Yogender Chandoliya, both ex-councillors.

The Congress, with just 9 councillors, is focusing on the Shahdara South Zone.

Some wards could see an interesting contest.

– In the City SP Zone, for instance, the BJP has just two councillors and has decided not to contest. AAP has fielded Ballimaran councillor Mohammad Sadiq for chairman, Kiran Bala from Delhi Gate for deputy chairman, and Punardeep Singh Sawhney from Chandni Chowk for standing committee member.

– In Karol Bagh too, the BJP is not contesting. It has two councillors in this ward. AAP’s Rakesh Joshi, Jyoti Gautam, and Ankush Narang are nominated for the posts.

– In Keshavpuram, the BJP, with 13 councillors here, fielded Yogesh Verma for chairman, Sushil for deputy chairman, and Shikha Bharadwaj for standing committee member. AAP, with two councillors, is not contesting.

– In Shahdara South, a three-way contest is on the cards for all three posts. Vying for the chairman’s post are AAP’s Priyanka Saxena from Gorakh Park, BJP’s Pramod Gupta from Yamuna Vihar, and Congress’ Zarif from Kabir Nagar. The deputy chairman seat features AAP’s Roshan Lal, BJP’s Ritesh Suji, and Congress’ Nazia Khatoon; the standing committee member nominations include AAP’s Chhaya Gaurav Sharma, BJP’s Satyapal Singh, and Congress’ Sabila Begum.

– In the Central zone, Sugandha, a Tughlakabad councillor who recently switched from AAP to BJP, will challenge AAP’s Hem Chand Goel from Molarband for the chairperson’s position. Three other councillors who were elected on an AAP ticket have been nominated by BJP — Sunder Singh from Bhati and Pawan Kumar from Bawana are contesting for the post of chairperson from South and Narela zones. Sunita from Dwarka-C ward is contesting for the post of deputy chairman from Najafgarh.

– The Rohini zone will see an internal BJP battle for the deputy chairman’s post as Dharambir Sharma from Rohini-C Ward and Narender Kumar Singh from Rithala have filed nominations. Dharam Rakshak from Mangolpuri-A is also in the race from AAP.

Among BJP’s nominees, seven have prior experience in leadership roles in the MCD. They include Raja Iqbal Singh, the current Leader of Opposition and former mayor of erstwhile North MCD, who is contesting from Civil Lines, and Parvesh Wahi, former chairman of the standing committee, running from Rohini zone.

AAP’s nominees include two former leaders of opposition — Parveen Kumar from West and Prem Chauhan from South zones.

The mayor will now appoint presiding officers to oversee the election in each zone, who will be responsible for ensuring smooth and fair proceedings. “The officer ideally needs to be someone who has good knowledge of MCD’s rules, regulations… the Mayor can appoint presiding officers without consulting anyone,” a senior MCD official associated with the election process said.