After the shocking defeat in Delhi assembly elections, a new challenge is waiting for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming Mayoral elections which will predict whether the party will be able to retain its power in the MCD or not.
After sweeping the assembly elections with clinching 48 seats and coming back into power after 27 years, the BJP is all set to repeat its success in the Mayoral elections scheduled to be held in April, giving “triple engine government” to the national capital.
As the numbers are in the favour of BJP, the state party chief Virendra Sachdeva said, “We will soon have a triple engine government.”
In 2022, the AAP government won the election and secured a majority of 134 seats out of 250 subsequently bagging the seat of Mayor ending the 15-year rule of BJP in the MCD.
Meanwhile, the BJP won 104 seats, with the Congress securing nine seats and three seats went to the independent candidates.
However, in the past few months, particularly in February, a lot of changes happened which could impact the forthcoming election and change the composition in the House.
Last month, the representation of BJP increased to 120 while AAP’s tally had dropped to 121. Following the assembly polls, the number further dropped to 118 for AAP and 112 for the BJP as three AAP councilors and eight BJP councilors became MLA.
After this, four AAP councilors joined the BJP, leaving AAP with only 114 councilors and BJP at 116.
With this, BJP is likely to win a clear majority in the upcoming Mayoral election. The Mayoral constituency consists of elected councilors, 14 MLA in proportion to party representation in Delhi Assembly, seven Lok Sabha MPs, and three Rajya Sabha MPs.
The House addresses the distribution of civic services in the city. It is headed by the Mayor who presides over its 250 councilors. The MCD comprises 35 departments ranging from sanitation, horticulture to licensing, engineering, and healthcare.
