After a long delay of seven months for the mayoral poll elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Mahesh Khichi a councillor from the Dev Nagar ward in Karol Bagh (45) was elected as the first Mayor of Delhi on Thursday, defeating BJP’s Kishan Lal from Shakurpur ward (47) with a slim margin amid a chaotic scenes unfolded during the voting process. Khinchi received 133 votes, while Lal secured 130 votes. Two votes were declared invalid. The eight Congress councillors chose not to participate in the voting process.
Ravindra Bhardwaj of AAP was elected unopposed for the post of Deputy Mayor. Bhardwaj is a councilor from Aman Vihar, Ward No. 41. His rival candidate, BJP councilor Neeta Bisht, withdrew her nomination. Bisht is a councilor from Sadatpur, Ward No. 247.
The winning the Mayoral post will boost the AAP morale of the party workers ahead of the assembly polls next year. These elections, which had been delayed since April due to a a prolonged battle of words between the AAP and BJP, saw the Congress boycott the voting, demanding a full term for the mayor instead of the shortened tenure now on offer. Khinchi's tenure will last only five months, as the election had been postponed since April.
AAP had a strength of 125 councillors while the BJP had 113 councillors. Votes were also cast by all the seven MPs of BJP while two MPs Sanjay Singh and ND Gupta also voted for the elections. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal was a no show at the election. A total of 14 MLAs casted their vote including 13 from AAP and one from BJP. It is noteworthy that this year was reserved for Dalit candidates.
The elections began with a chaotic scene which unfolded with the Congress councillors raising slogans and storming into the well of the House over the reduced tenure allotted for the upcoming Dalit mayor. The uproar began as presiding officer Satya Sharma initiated the proceedings.The uproar began as presiding officer Satya Sharma initiated the proceedings. Congress Leader of Party (LOP) Nazia Dhanish immediately raised objections, criticising the truncated tenure set for the Dalit mayor. Earlier, the Congress has decided to boycott the elections for the mayor and deputy mayor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), citing dissatisfaction over the limited tenure planned for the next Dalit mayor.
He accused the current sitting mayor of overstaying and infringing on the Dalit community's right to full representation. Dhanish, along with other Congress councillors, moved into the well of the House, demanding an explanation from the presiding officer.
In response, Sharma urged the Congress councillors to return to their seats, remarking, "You are spoiling their limited tenure as well." The protest escalated as the Congress members targeting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chanted "Dalit Virodhi Kejriwal Sarkar" slogan. In return, the AAP members countered with chants of "Kejriwal Zindabad". The standoff continued with both sides hurling slogans against each other followed by them staging a walk out.
However, in a later twist, one of the councilors from the party Sabila Begum resigned from the primary membership of the party saying she would vote for the AAP nominee. She had also previously defected to the AAP in 2022 before returning to the Congress fold.
The newly elected Mayor thanked everyone present in the house and expressed his gratitude to the former Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. He said, “Under his leadership, we all will work together with full honesty for the development of Delhi.”
Despite the loss, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said that Arvind Kejriwal's party lost the election for the post of Mayor and Arvind Kejriwal has lost the moral ground to continue as the Convenor of AAP.
“At least eight councillors of AAP cast their votes in favour of BJP and two others deliberately got their votes invalid which is a big moral defeat for Arvind Kejriwal,” he said.
Every year in April, mayoral elections are held in accordance with MCD procedures, and each mayor is elected to a one-year term as part of a five-year cycle. Women are assigned to the first term, followed by the open category in the second, a reserved category in the third, and the open category once more in the last two terms.
