Old RSS hand, former Akali member among new Delhi MCD Mayors

Delhi’s three civic bodies, ruled by the BJP, got new Mayors on Wednesday as Raja Iqbal was elected to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, Mukesh Suryan to the South MCD, and Shyam Sunder Aggarwal to the East MCD.

The appointments come a year before MCD polls in the capital.

Suryan, a councillor from Sagarpur, is a long-time RSS worker and has headed different posts in the BJP, including its youth wing. Before becoming mayor, he was the education committee chairperson of the North MCD.

In 2018, he was pulled up by the Supreme Court for allegedly threatening MCD officials for carrying out sealing of unauthorised construction in Delhi. The court has at the time said it will not tolerate “dadagiri” by anyone.

Suryan hails from the Jat community and closely worked with MP Pravesh Verma during the general election. He said his priority would be increasing enrolLment rate, decreasing the size of landfill sites, and healthcare.

Singh, the councillor from GTB Nagar, is a former Shiromani Akali Dal leader who switched sides after the SAD broke its alliance with BJP last year over the three farm bills. SAD had then asked its councillors to resign from the posts they held in the MCDs.

Singh, who was a chairperson of the Civil Lines Zone, continued to hold the post and later opted to cross over to the BJP. Party leaders said the fact that he is from the Sikh community worked in his favour, as the BJP wants to counter the sentiment that it is against farmers and the Sikh community at large.

Agarwal, the councillor from Raghuvarpura, hails from the Bania community. “My focus would be to redress grievances of people regarding cleanliness in the area as that is the main work of the civic body,” he said.

A senior party leader said he is popular for his “activism style of politics” and has registered several complaints with different agencies against alleged malpractices in the corporations.

For the post of deputy mayor, BJP leader Archana Dilip Singh for North Delhi, Pawan Sharma for South Delhi and Kiran Vaidh for East Delhi were elected.