BJP Wins MCD Standing Committee Election As AAP, Congress Abstain; Arvind Kejriwal Reacts

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured the final vacant seat on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's 18-member Standing Committee unopposed on Friday, after councillors from the ruling AAP and Congress boycotted the election. BJP candidate Sunder Singh secured 115 votes against AAP candidate Nirmala Kumari who got zero votes as her party did not participate in the poll.

The standing committee is the highest decision-making body of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Now, of the 18 members of the Standing Committee, the BJP has 10 and the AAP has 8. Had the AAP participated in the polls and if its councillors had voted (no cross voting) for the party candidate, Nirmala Kumar would have got 125 votes, easily defeating the BJP candidate.

The seat became vacant after BJP councillor Kamaljeet Sehrawat was elected as the Lok Sabha MP from West Delhi. This marked the first time the election took place without the participation of AAP and Congress councillors.

Reacting to the BJP's victory, former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said that the saffron party has wrongly overpowered the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and stole the mandate from AAP. Addressing the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal said that according to rules only the mayor can convene a meeting of the MCD House but the lieutenant governor changed it and directed an additional commissioner of the civic body to do it. Kejriwal also accused the BJP of resorting to 'hooliganism'.

On BJP's Sunder Singh Tanwar winning 6th MCD standing committee seat, Raja Iqbal Singh, MCD LoP and BJP Councillor said, " This is the win of democracy...AAP knew they would lose the floor test so they left battleground. AAP is good at lying...they can go to court but the court always pulls them up..."