The 10 members nominated to the MCD by the Lieutenant-Governor on Wednesday, who will also get a vote in the zonal elections, could tip the scales in BJP’s favour, said a senior BJP leader.
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With the numbers clearly stacked against them in the mayoral election on Friday, the BJP has set its eyes on securing the majority in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) standing committee.
Several leaders in the BJP’s Delhi unit told Today News 24 that the party is looking to win 10 of the 18 seats in the standing committee as well as the election for the office of its chairperson in order to play the role of a “strong opposition” in the municipality.
The standing committee is the civic body’s second-highest decision-making body after the House and deals with the day-to-day matters of the corporation. There are matters on which the standing committee can take a call without seeking the approval of the House, said a senior MCD official.
Numbers game
In the recently held MCD polls, AAP emerged as the winner with 134 seats in the 250-member House, putting an end to the BJP’s 15-year term in the city’s three erstwhile civic bodies (now unified). The BJP won 104 seats and the Congress nine.
In the first meeting of the newly elected House on Friday, all 250 councillors will be administered the oath, following which the election for the office of the Mayor will be held. The councillors will also elect six of the standing committee’s 18 members.
The remaining 12 members will be elected through polls in the MCD’s 12 zones [a zone is a cluster of municipal wards]. Upon being elected, the members of the standing committee will nominate their chairperson.
The schedule for the zone-level elections hasn’t been announced so far.
For the standing committee polls on Friday, AAP has fielded four candidates while the BJP has fielded three, including an independent who joined the party after the municipal elections in December.
Expressing confidence
“We are confident about all three of our candidates getting elected to the standing committee. We are also certain of winning at least six MCD zones where we have a comfortable majority,” said a former Mayor from the BJP.
The party leader added that the 10 members nominated to the MCD by the Lieutenant-Governor on Wednesday, who will also get a vote in the zonal elections, could tip the scales in BJP’s favour.
“The nominated members could help us win elections in zones where we do not have a clear majority. Of the 18 standing committee members, we aim to have 10 members from our party, including the chairperson,” said another BJP leader.
Mayoral poll
Apart from the 250 newly elected councillors, those who will get to vote in the election for the office of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor on Friday are — Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha MPs, three Rajya Sabha MPs and 13 MLAs nominated by the Delhi Assembly Speaker.
