Another blow to Arvind Kejriwal as 3 AAP councillors join BJP ahead of MCD mayoral poll

The MCD mayoral election is scheduled to be held in April. The AAP had won the last mayoral election, held in November 2024, by three votes.

Published on: Feb 15, 2025, 16:15:46 IST

By HT News Desk

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In a fresh setback to Arvind Kejriwal, three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors have switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), boosting the saffron party's chances of victory in the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) mayoral poll.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva addresses the media after three former AAP councillors joined the BJP, in New Delhi, Saturday. (PTI)

"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 said at a press conference.

Anita Basoya (Andrews Ganj), Nikhil Chaprana (Hari Nagar) and Dharamvir (R K Puram) are the three AAP councilors who switched sides, days after the BJP secured a massive victory in the Delhi assembly elections.

Sachdeva said the councilors joined the BJP to make Delhi a clean and beautiful city.

MCD mayoral election

The MCD mayoral election is scheduled to be held in April. The AAP had won the last mayoral election, held in November 2024, by three votes.

Besides the councilors, the seven Lok Sabha MPs (all of BJP), three Rajya Sabha MPs (all of AAP), and 14 nominated MLAs in Delhi are voters in the polls for mayor and deputy mayor of the MCD.

With the joining of the three councilors, the BJP tally is now higher than that of the AAP.

The BJP is also going to have 10 of its MLAs nominated to the MCD, while the AAP will have four nominations for the civic body, said BJP leaders.

In the 2022 MCD polls, the AAP won 134 wards, the BJP 104, the Congress nine, and Independents three.

In another development, the MCD on Thursday presented a budget of ₹17,000 crore for the next financial year with sanitation receiving the highest allocation of ₹4,907.11 crore.

Besides sanitation, infrastructure development, education and waste management, have been focused upon in the MCD budget.

(With PTI inputs)

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