Key contestants: Major battles and prominent faces in MCD 2022 elections

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is eyeing a fourth term in the now-unified municipal body, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is looking wrest control of the MCD

With the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election scheduled for December 4 less than two weeks away, parties and candidates are busy campaigning to woo roughly 14.49 million voters.

BJP supporters during a roadshow by party leaders, ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections. (PTI)

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is eyeing a fourth term in the now-unified municipal body, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is looking wrest control of the MCD. Congress, which had won the municipal elections in 2002, but has been sitting on the opposition benches since 2007 too, is busy campaigning on ground. Voters, meanwhile, have their work cut out to pick 250 representatives for a revamped unified MCD, for which candidates include 10 former mayors, four leaders of Opposition, and several committee chairpersons.

In North Delhi’s Keshavpuram ward, former leader of House from the BJP Yogesh Verma will face off against Vikar Goyal from AAP. Verma was elected as councillor from the Keshavpuram ward in the 2017 municipal election while Goyal won from the Wazirpur ward, but the delimitation of wards has ensured that the new ward is a combination of the two erstwhile wards. Verma said that the rearrangement of wards has led to the industrial area and JJ clusters getting added to the original ward, and he considers the ward his home turf.

“I will fight this election on the basis of works I have carried out as deputy mayor, leader of House and zone chairman. Development works worth ₹13 crore were undertaken under my leadership despite the municipal corporation’s financial crisis--the ward is now garbage vat-free. My political experience and the fact that I have lived here for 40 years will work to my advantage. My rival is a new entrant,” he added.

His challenger Goyal, meanwhile, insisted said that the ward was his home turf, because the majority of the area under the new ward is part of the original ward. “Garbage is the biggest issue here. We will promise corruption-free governance. This is an election between the seven-year performance of Kejriwal versus 16 years of ineptitude of BJP-ruled MCD,” Goyal said.

In the southwest part of the Capital, erstwhile south MCD mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat is being challenged in Dwarka-B, a ward reserved for women, by AAP’s Sudha Sinha, the president of the federation of Co-operative Group Housing Societies. Sinha said that Sehrawat may be the sitting councillor but has not delivered on her promises.

“My competitor is the mayor but has not been able to resolve basic issues of the residents or wasn’t aware of them. The 10 guarantees announced by AAP will ensure better quality of life to residents. My experience from working with residents’ welfare associations and 352 groups housing societies equips me to deal with residents’ issues. We have worked on water scarcity in Dwarka, roads and other civic matters with citizen groups,” Sinha said.

Sehrawat did not respond to requests for comment.

In the eastern part of the city, another interesting battle will be fought in Vinod Nagar ward between BJP’s Ravi Negi and AAP’s Kuldeep Bhandari. Negi had come close upsetting deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s Patparganj win in the 2020 assembly elections. Negi had secured 66,956 votes against Sisodia, who won the election with 70,163 votes. Negi’s municipal election challenger Bhandari, who switched allegiance from the Congress to AAP in February 2022, was the head of Delhi Pradesh Parvatiya Congress Committee. Bhandari was then made the president of Garhwali Kumaoni Jaunsari Academy by the government. Both contenders have a strong support base within the communities from Uttarakhand region, which makes the ward election a key battle.

These elections will also see the return of Farhad Suri, former mayor of unified MCD in 2006 who will contest the election from Daryaganj ward. According to Suri, while AAP and BJP are fighting each other, it is the people of Delhi who are suffering. “This tussle is leading to Delhi’s loss. The economic state of MCD is a major concern. When I was leader of Opposition in 2017, the state government owed us funds to the tune of around ₹6,000 crore. The alleged figure is around ₹40,000 crore. Both parties are responsible for mess,” Suri, who will contest against BJPs Lalit Bhamri, said.

According to political experts, other key contestants include erstwhile north MCD mayor Sardar Avatar Singh from Civil Lines who will be contesting against Vikas Tank from AAP, Sardar Raja Iqbal Singh from Mukherjee Nagar ward against Antul Kohli from AAP, SDMC mayor Sunita Kangra from Madipur against AAP’s Sahil Gangwal and erstwhile east MCD mayor Bipin Bihari against AAP’s Devender Chaudhary in ward 196, and BJP’s Neema Bhagat vs AAP’s Kawaljeet Kaur in ward 210.

Besides Goyal in Keshavpuram, AAP has fielded other former leaders of Opposition as candidates such as Anil Lakra, former LOP in North in Mundka ward; Prem Chauhan, outgoing LOP in erstwhile south MCD in Dakshinpuri ward and Manoj Tyagi, the former leader of Opposition in erstwhile east MCD from Sadatpur ward under Karawal Nagar assembly constituency.

In another first of sorts for MCD elections, a major ruling party at state level has fielded a transgender candidate. AAP has provided ticket to Bobby Kinnar who will be contesting from ward 43 from Sultanpuri-A ward from Sultanpuri Majra assembly constituency in northwest Delhi. “I am a social worker and run NGO Hindu Yuva Samaj Ekta Avam Atank Virodhi Samiti. I help elderly people and widows through my NGO who have been abandoned by their wards. I had always aspired to be a public representative as I will be able to help more people,” 39-year-old Bobby said. Bobby added that her social work in the area over the last 15 years will help her to win the upcoming elections. She had also contested 2017 MCD elections on the ticket of All India Forward Block.

Another candidate to look out for will be 21-year-old Pooja Yadav, the youngest Congress candidate in these elections, who is resident of Meharchand Basti Camp and projecting her campaign for Andrewsganj ward under the banner of “Camp ki Beti.”

While the BJP has fielded 52 former councillors in this election, the AAP said that most of its candidates are from ordinary households and the party has always believed in giving voice to the common man. “In ticket distribution, the party has always given importance to merit rather than family background. And in elections, men and women from ordinary households have been given importance. There are many candidates whose financial condition is not very good, yet they have been given a ticket, so that they can win the election and inspire others,” the party has said.