AAP's Mahesh Kumar Khichi elected Delhi mayor

Khichi defeated BJP's Kishan Lal, councillor from the Shakurpur ward. He secured 133 votes, only three more than Lal.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Mahesh Kumar Khichi won Delhi mayoral polls, as voting for the long-delayed election was held on Thursday.

Mahesh Kumar Khichi (Image courtesy: AAP)

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Khichi, the AAP councillor from Karol Bagh's Dev Nagar ward, defeated Kishan Lal (Shakurpur ward) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Total 265 votes were polled, of which two were declared “invalid.” Of the “valid” ones, the AAP candidate secured 133 votes, only three more than the BJP nominee.

Meanwhile, the Congress staged a walkout from the House as the incoming Dalit mayor would hold the post only till April next year. However, of the eight Congress councillors, one resigned from the primary membership of the party to vote for AAP.

Sabila Begum, the Congress member who resigned, had previously defected to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party in 2022 before returning to the grand old party.

Why does the new mayor have such a short tenure?

According to MCD rules, mayoral elections are held in April each year for a five-year term comprising as many single-year tenures on a rotation basis.

In the first year, the post is reserved for a woman, while in the second year, a candidate from the “open” category is elected to the post. The third year is for a reserved category candidate and the final two years for the “open” category.

As these were the third mayoral polls after the AAP ended BJP's 15-year MCD stint in December 2022, Khichi, a Dalit, was declared by the AAP as its candidate.

However, his term will conclude in April 2025 as the elections that were to be held earlier this year, in April, could not be conducted on schedule due to a continuing standoff between the AAP and BJP.