Delhi: Setback For AAP Ahead Of MCD Mayoral Polls As Three Party Councillors Join BJP

In a fresh political setback to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), three councillors have defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), improving the latter’s prospects in the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) mayoral election, Hindustan Times reported.

This comes days after BJP secured a massive victory in the Delhi Assembly polls by securing 48 out of the 70 seats, setting the stage for its return to power in the national capital after over two decades.

The three AAP councillors — Anita Basoya (Andrews Ganj), Nikhil Chaprana (Hari Nagar), and Dharamvir (R K Puram) — joined BJP in the presence of Delhi party unit president Virendra Sachdeva.

"Delhi will have a 'triple engine' government -- at the Centre, assembly and municipal level -- at the right time to develop it as the capital of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision under a ‘Viksit Bharat’," Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times at a press conference after the three AAP councillors joined the party.

According to Sachdeva, the councillors shifted allegiance to BJP with the objective of making Delhi a clean and beautiful city.

The upcoming MCD mayoral election is set for April. In the previous election held in November 2024, AAP secured victory by a narrow margin of three votes.

The mayoral and deputy mayoral elections will also see votes from seven BJP Lok Sabha MPs, three AAP Rajya Sabha MPs, and 14 nominated MLAs in Delhi.

The BJP is going to have 10 of its MLAs nominated to the MCD, while the AAP will have four nominations for the civic body, BJP leaders were cited in the HT report as saying.

Following the defection of the three councillors, BJP now holds a numerical advantage over AAP in the MCD.

During the 2022 MCD elections, AAP secured 134 wards, BJP won 104, Congress took nine, and Independents claimed three.

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