Aam Aadmi Party’s Mahesh Khinchi — councillor from Karol Bagh’s Dev Nagar ward — will be the next Mayor of Delhi, having won the election by a wafer-thin margin. Mr Khinchi, Delhi’s first Dalit Mayor, got 133 votes and the BJP’s Kishan Pal 130 votes in the election held this evening after much chaos and disruption that included a walkout by the Congress members. AAP’s Ravindra Bhardwaj was elected unopposed to the post of Deputy Mayor.
BJP councilor Ms Neeta Bisht, the opponent of Mr Bhardwaj, a councilor from Aman Vihar, Ward No. 41, had withdrawn her nomination at the last minute.
The BJP had 120 members, but managed to get 10 more votes. In a statement later, the party claimed it was a case of cross-viting by AAP members.
“Eight Aam Aadmi Party councillors voting in favour of the BJP and two votes being declared invalid is not only a victory for democracy but also a big moral defeat for Arvind Kejriwal. Arvind Kejriwal no longer has the moral right to remain the “AAP” convenor,” the statement read.
Mr Khinchi’s tenure will only be for five months, with the election being repeatedly postponed since April. It was this issue that caused the walkout by the Congress, which wanted a full one-year tenure for the first Dalit mayor.
Amid the chaos, Congress’s Mohammad Khushnood and his wife Sabila Begum — Councillor of Mustafabad Ward 243) — resigned from the primary membership of the party, saying she would vote for the AAP candidate. While the seven Congress members walked out as the voting started, she stayed back to vote.
In her resignation letter, Sabila Begum said her objection was to the party’s walkout decision, which would only benefit the BJP.
The election, normally held every April, has been delayed over a tussle between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP, and the new Mayor is expected to get only a five-month term.
The initial delay in the election took place as then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was in judicial custody in the excise policy case. Then AAP boycotted the election held in September after the councillors were frisked. That time too, the Congress had abstained from voting.
There was further delay over procedural disputes, including the appointment of a presiding officer by the Lieutenant Governor.
