New Delhi: A day ahead of the MCD meeting to elect the city’s mayor, Delhi BJP leaders on Tuesday asserted that “anything can happen”, indicating that AAP’s majority and the Supreme Court’s decision to vote by aldermen The party expected a surprise, despite the ruling being against. The arithmetic is in favor of the Aam Aadmi Party, which has 150 votes against the BJP’s 113 out of a total of 274 votes in the mayoral election.
Delhi BJP’s working president Virendra Sachdeva alleged that BJP wants Delhi to get its mayor as soon as possible but AAP is obstructing it on one pretext or the other. Asked about BJP candidate Rekha Gupta’s chances, Sachdeva said, “We will ensure that the city gets its mayor in tomorrow’s Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) meeting. But, anything can happen there.”
In the municipal elections held in December last year, the AAP ended the BJP’s 15-year rule by winning 134 of the 250 wards in the MCD. The BJP managed to win 104 wards, while the Congress won nine and independents three. Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor also claimed that the results of the mayoral election would “surprise” people, but refused to elaborate on the party’s strategy.
Claiming “deep disagreement” among AAP corporators, a section of BJP leaders said the BJP’s mayoral candidate’s chances were not “so bad”. The BJP had earlier alleged that the newly elected councilors had bought tickets for the MCD polls in December and now want important posts in the ‘ideological’ wing of the civic body, including mayor, deputy mayor, standing committee members and other committees .
A senior Delhi BJP leader attached to the party’s internal group handling MCD affairs said, “It will not be surprising if some corporators cross-vote in the mayoral election.”
Voting is done through a secret ballot and the anti-defection law does not apply in the MCD House. AAP got a shot in the arm after the Supreme Court recently ruled against the voting rights granted to 10 aldermen by pro-tem mayor and BJP corporator Satya Sharma.
The electoral college for the election of the mayor consists of 250 elected councillors, seven Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha MPs from Delhi and 14 MLAs. The Delhi Assembly Speaker has nominated 13 members of the AAP and one member of the BJP to the House.