AAP’s breakaway faction of 16 councillors merges with BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday strengthened its position in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) after the 16 councillors of the Indraprastha Vikas Party (IVP) – a breakaway faction of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – formally merged with it in the presence of chief minister Rekha Gupta and Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday strengthened its position in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) after the 16 councillors of the Indraprastha Vikas Party (IVP) – a breakaway faction of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – formally merged with it in the presence of chief minister Rekha Gupta and Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra.

Welcoming the councillors into the party, CM Gupta said the BJP would give them equal respect and opportunities (HT)

The merger takes the BJP’s strength in the 250-member House to 139, comfortably ahead of AAP’s 123. The Congress has nine councillors, while one seat is vacant. Although the BJP had won only 104 seats in the 2022 civic polls, it has steadily increased its numbers through defections over the past two years.

The IVP was formed in May this year after 16 AAP councillors broke ranks with the party following differences with its leadership in the MCD after the assembly election defeat.

Welcoming the councillors into the party, Gupta said the BJP would give them equal respect and opportunities. “I assure all the councillors and the workers who have joined the BJP along with them that they will receive full respect within the BJP family and every opportunity to serve,” she said.

The political significance of the merger was evident later in the day when several former IVP councillors were nominated by the BJP for key posts in the upcoming ward committee and Standing Committee elections, triggering resentment among sections of the party’s own councillors.

The nomination process for elections to the MCD’s 12 ward committees concluded on Friday, with polling scheduled for July 15.

The BJP currently enjoys a numerical majority in eight ward committees, while AAP has the numbers in four.

Both parties fielded candidates in 11 ward committees each. The BJP did not nominate a candidate in the Karol Bagh ward committee, where it has only two councillors, while AAP refrained from contesting the Keshavpuram ward committee, ensuring uncontested victories for the rival parties in those zones.

The BJP rewarded several defectors with important organisational positions. Former IVP councillors Dharamveer Singh and Usha Sharma have been fielded as the BJP’s candidates for chairperson of the South Zone and City-SP Zone ward committees, respectively. Hemchandra Goyal has been nominated as the party’s candidate for a Standing Committee seat from the Central Zone. In addition, former AAP councillors have also been nominated for deputy chairperson posts in two ward committees.

A senior BJP functionary said eight of the 27 councillors fielded by the party across the ward committee elections had originally been elected on AAP tickets, with some joining the BJP earlier and others switching allegiance only recently.

The nominations have, however, caused unease within sections of the BJP. Several BJP councillors, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party had repeatedly overlooked long-serving workers while rewarding recent entrants from the AAP and the Congress with organisational posts and election nominations. With anti-defection provisions not applicable to these internal civic elections, cross-voting has been witnessed in previous contests.