Delhi mayoral polls: BJP strikes caste, regional balance in candidate selections

NEW DELHI: The BJP has sought to strike a caste and regional balance by nominating councillors from diverse social groups for top positions -- mayor, deputy mayor, chairman of the standing committee, and leader of house -- in three municipal corporations in Delhi.

The party has chosen Raja Iqbal Singh, a Sikh for the post of mayor in North Delhi Municipal Corporation (North DMC) and Mukesh Suryan for South DMC, who belongs to the Jat community.

In east Delhi, Shyam Sundar Aggarwal, a Baniya, has been nominated for the top post.  

“This is the last year of Municipal Corporations’ tenure and the state leadership has tried to give representation to all castes and groups -- Baniya, Brahmin, Punjabi, Purvanchali, and SC and ST -- which matter to the party. It is a clear attempt to draw favourable results in civic body elections scheduled early next year,” said an office bearer of Delhi BJP.

The list of candidates was released on Tuesday, which was the last date of filing nominations. The BJP has absolute majority in three corporations and is set to secure all posts this time also.  

The municipal elections were due in April. However, given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, polls were postponed four times. The polling is scheduled on June 16.

The councillors, who have been nominated to deputy mayoral post elections, are Archana Dilip Singh in North DMC, Pawan Sharma in South Corporation and Kiran Vaid is for east Delhi.

“Iqbal Singh was councillor under Akali Dal quota when both parties were allies. With his nomination, BJP has tried to give a message to Sikh voters. In 2019, Avtar Singh, another Sikh councilor, was made the mayor. Three women -- Archana, Poonam Bhati (vice chairman, standing committee in south Delhi), and Vaid -- have been chosen for the coveted posts,” said another party functionary.   

For the chairmanship of standing committees, the party has given opportunity to Jogiram Jain (Kamla Nagar councillor) in North DMC, Colonel BK Oberoi (a war veteran) and Veer Singh Pawar (Dilshad Garden ward) in east Delhi.

According to senior city leaders, the names in the list indicated that Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta and general secretary (organisation) Siddharthan had managed to accommodate their confidants.

“The state leadership has successfully ignored choices of members of parliaments (MPs) except Deepak Malhotra, who is for deputy chairmanship in east Delhi corporation. He is considered a close aide of east Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir. Chhail Bihari Goswami has been nominated for the post of leader of house in North Delhi. He is a good friend of Gupta. Outgoing north Delhi mayor Jai Prakash has been dropped this time, which is a clear message to senior party leaders such as Vijay Goel,” said a former officer bear of Delhi BJP.