Eyeing the post of Delhi Mayor after its win in the Assembly polls, the BJP has started looking for a suitable candidate from among its councillors for the mayoral polls likely to be held in the third week of this month, party leaders said.
The names of several BJP councillors including Leader of Opposition in the MCD House Raja Iqbal Singh, Keshavpuram zonal committee chairman Yogesh Verma and Shahdara South zonal committee Sandeep Kapoor are doing the rounds as potential candidates for the mayoral post, party leaders said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wrested control of the MCD in the 2022 polls, winning 134 wards out of 250, while the BJP bagged 104 wards. The BJP became the single largest party in the MCD on February 15, after three AAP councillors switched sides. The anti-defection law does not apply to defectors in civic bodies.
With several AAP councillors defecting in the past few months, the number of BJP councillors has now gone up to 119.
The BJP’s chances to win the mayoral post received a further boost after the nomination of 14 MLAs, 11 of them from the BJP, by Delhi Assembly Speaker to the MCD. The party also won the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The MPs and nominated MLAs vote in the elections for the post of mayor and deputy mayor likely to be held later this month.
The AAP won the post of mayor in the elections held in November last year by just three votes. The tenure of Delhi mayor is for one year and the fresh elections are held in April, preferably in the first week.
The BJP, which registered a resounding victory in the assembly polls last month, is eyeing a “triple-engine government” in Delhi by securing the post of mayor. The party is already in power at the Centre. “We are confident of winning the post of Mayor for which the name of a party councillor is being finalised,” said a senior Delhi BJP leader.
AAP leaders said that the party is also planning its strategy for the mayoral poll and will field a suitable candidate.
A Delhi BJP functionary said, “With the nomination of 11 party MLAs to the MCD, the chances of winning the post of mayor are now all the more certain.” The BJP leaders claimed that more AAP councillors are likely to defect by the time the mayoral elections are held.
