Revealed: Delhi BJP's new gameplan to win MCD Mayor election

New Delhi: An unrelenting Bharatiya Janata Party may try a new strategy to secure the post of Mayor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. 

After pushing for and securing voting rights for Aldermen, and councillors nominated to the House by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, the BJP may try to seek disqualification of Aam Aadmi Party corporators from voting due to their criminal antecedents.

The saffron unit is understood to have prepared a list of up to 25 AAP councillors who have been charged or are facing charges under criminal cases. 

The BJP is expected to petition the presiding officer of the MCD house, Satya Sharma, to withhold the voting rights of these councillors. The move is expected to ensure a majority for the BJP in the MCD Mayor election, sources pointed out.

The municipal House witnessed an uproar earlier this week after the Presiding Officer announced that the nominated members will also be allowed to vote in the elections for mayor, deputy mayor and Standing Committee members. 

The announcement drew protests from AAP councillors, as the party fears that it will lose the vote to these important posts due to this move by the presiding officer.

The NewsDrum had earlier reported that days after securing the post of Mayor in Chandigarh Municipal Corporation through “management”, the BJP was hoping to repeat the success in MCD as well. And one of the options being considered by the saffron front was asking for voting rights for Aldermen. The 10 Aldermen have affected the calculations of AAP further.

Though the Delhi government has approved the proposal of the MCD of February 16 for the mayoral election, the meeting too is likely to face a lot of pandemonium if the BJP’s proposal is accepted. 

The MCD House has been adjourned by the presiding officer thrice, on January 6, January 24 and February 6, without electing a mayor following ruckus and pandemonium by members of the BJP and the AAP.

If the BJP has its way with the disqualification of voting rights of AAP councillors over criminal antecedents, the calculations of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party are likely to be affected adversely.

It has already been almost two months and the national capital is yet to get a Mayor. Though, according to law, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to be elected in the very first session of the MCD House after the civic polls.

Losing the MCD after 15 years, the BJP has made winning the Mayoral polls a prestige issue. 

While BJP has fielded Rekha Gupta, AAP has nominated Shelly Oberoi for the mayoral contest. With anti-defection laws not applicable in municipalities, the BJP is also keeping its options open for a tie-up with councillors from various parties. 

This allows elected councillors to switch sides without fear of losing their election. The anti-defection laws are applicable in Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.  

In MCD polls, AAP had won 132 seats in the 250-member civic body, as against the BJP's 104. Congress with 9 councillors and 3 independents can also play a vital part in the election that can go down to the wire. 

Along with these parties, the MPs from Delhi are also eligible for voting in the polling. This was the first election to the MCD since its reunification in May 2022.

With the contest for the top job in MCD expected to go down to the wire, the BJP is trying various combinations to secure the crucial poll to one of the richest and most powerful civic bodies in the country. These include seeking Congress members to abstain or vote for the BJP and also seeking votes of the independents elected to the House.  

After the Mayoral polls, the BJP also hopes to get its leaders elected as heads of the standing committee and other important house committees.