MCD election results: Mayor will be from AAP, says BJP Delhi chief Adesh Gupta

NEW DELHI: The mayor of the newly elected Municipal Corporation of Delhi will be from the Aam Aadmi Party. At least this is the indication after BJP said on Friday that it would be content playing the role of a “strong opposition” in the civic body and would not put up a candidate for the mayoral election.
“BJP will be a strong opposition and will also take on AAP if it indulges in any corruption,” said Adesh Gupta, president, Delhi BJP. Gupta’s statement came amid speculation that his party would contest the mayoral polls. Though AAP has the majority of 134 seats in the 250-strong House, BJP is not far behind with 104 seats.
Under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, Delhi gets a new mayor every year. The mayor in the first year of a new tenure is a woman. In the third year, the mayor must be from the reserved category. All 250 elected councillors are eligible to vote in the mayoral election along with the MPs from Delhi and nominated members of the legislative assembly. The anti-defection law does not apply to MCD, which means cross-voting by parties is always a possibility.
“We will play the role of a strong opposition in the MCD to save Delhi from the AAP, which has become synonymous with corruption,” Gupta added during a press conference. He also thanked the BJP workers of Delhi for the 40% of the vote share that that party was able to get in the corporation elections. “BJP promises that in the corporation, it will strongly raise questions and discuss problems related to the people of Delhi and will try its best to fulfil their wishes,” said Gupta.
BJP not only won 104 of the 250 wards, managing a close second position, but also increased its vote share from 2017 by 3%. BJP garnered 39.1% of the ballots cast in the civic elections against 36.1% in 2017, when it had triumphed in 181 ward out of the 270 that went to polls. Gupta said though the party’s vote share had actually gone up, it hadn’t won as many seats as the previous elections because there were many seats where it lost to AAP with very small margins.