New Delhi: After a historic win in the Delhi Assembly polls, the BJP has set its eyes on the Delhi Municipal Corporation (MCD) mayoral election, which will be held in April 2025. Even if the BJP doesn’t have a majority in the MCD, the party is confident with a strategy to capture the mayor’s post.
Decoding The MCD Electoral Math
MCD has 250 councillors; however, the mayor’s election is done through a larger voting pool. In addition to the 250 councillors, the Delhi mayoral election also saw the voting of all seven MPs, three Rajya Sabha MPs, and 14 Delhi MLAs. The BJP currently has 120 councillor seats, while the AAP has 122.
In the recent Delhi Assembly elections, the BJP has been crowned with laurels, resuhaveng in eight of its many councilcouncillorselected as MLAs. The list comprises candidates from important constituencies , including Mundka, Najafgarh, Vinod Nagar, Rajendra Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Shalimar Bagh, Wazirpur and Greater Kailash. Though the MCD is still short of an outright majority, the success of these councillors makes the BJP strategy all the more potent.
In MCD elections, nominated councillors can also vote but cannot vote in the mayoral election. In the assembly elections, a nominated councillor, Rajkumar Bhatia, was also elected, but his vote doesn’t count for mayor.
Also, a dozen vacant councilor seats will be filled in by-elections, while one more will be nominated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, part of the overall input to the mayoral race.
A Tight Race Ahead
The MCD mayoral election last November was a close one. AAP’s Mahesh Khinchi defeated BJP’s Kishan Lal by a mere three votes. The final vote count was 263, wherein Khinchi got 133 and Kishan Lal 130 votes, while two votes were invalid. Though the BJP has 113 councillor seats, it also had one MLA seven MPs and 121 votes for the BJP. AAP, however, marshalled 141 voters for its candidate, with 125 councillors, 13 MLAs and three Rajya Sabha MPs in the party’s corner.
Should the Rebalance of Power Occur
That support will also bolster the BJP in the April election with its 14 MLAs and seven Lok Sabha MPs. If the BJP gets substantial votes, its candidate may well get elected as mayor, which would be a paradigm shift in Delhi’s political landscape.
Some discussions are that a few days later, after the similar success from the Delhi Assembly, the BJP.Many others will file a no-confidence motion against the current MCD mayor, and they will also enter politics in a highly volatile situation before the election.
The mayor’s election is seen as a big battle for both the BJP and AAP, who are strategising to win the mayor’s seat. With assembly strength on its side, the BJP may swing the balance in its favour by bringing in an additional workforce in the form of an MP in each congregation as the election approaches. However, the verdict is unclear as AAP has gained control of councillor numbers.
The MCD mayoral election and its impact on Delhi’s governance will be in great focus, given the unfolding political drama as various parties eye the political prize in April 2025.