The stage is set for an even contest in the high stakes mayoral polls on Friday in the BJP-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) where Congress has pitted a former mayor against a senior leader of the ruling party.
BJP, which has been leading all three corporations for the past few years, had swept the last mayoral polls, but Congress, incidentally had lost the South Delhi mayor seat by solitary vote.
High drama was witnessed during 2014 SDMC mayoral polls, in which BJP councillor Khushi Ram had defeated his Congress rival Dharamveer Singh by one vote. Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit had failed to exercise his franchise, leaving his party red-faced after a photo-finish end to the contest.
Causing further embarrassment to the party, Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Parvez Hashmi had also not turned up to vote in last polls. Congress though had managed to keep the post of the Deputy Mayor, with Praveen Rana edging out Bir Singh of BJP’s ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) by 13 votes. This time around, Congress has fielded Farhad Suri, who earlier served as a Mayor, during the period of the erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
Suri, currently, leader of Opposition (loP) in SDMC is likely to offer stiff competition to his BJP rival Subhash Arya, presently chairman of the civic body’s Standing Committee. Arya meanwhile has exuded confidence and said, “BJP will perform well in the mayoral polls and retain its supremacy in the civic body.”
Suri on Tuesday, however, had alleged that SDMC was “resorting” to irregular electoral practice ahead of the polls. He had further alleged that the ruling party was “pressurising” and “influencing” its councillors to vote for BJP or face action.