Aam Aadmi Party suspends three MCD councillors after ward committee polls

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday suspended three Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) councillors, alleging they cross-voted during the ward committee elections held a day earlier. 

Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj announced the immediate suspension of Nirmala Devi (Sharma) and Krishna Devi Raghav from the West Zone, and Sultana Abad from the City SP Zone, sharing a letter on X. 

The party alleged that cross-voting by its councillors enabled the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) victory. 

According to AAP, it secured 11 votes despite having 13 councillors in the West Zone, resulting in the loss of the chairperson’s post. 

“In the City SP Zone, AAP had seven councillors compared to the BJP’s four and one from the Forward Bloc. However, BJP candidate Usha Sharma won the chairperson’s election with seven votes, while the AAP candidate received five,“ said Ankush Narang, the Leader of the Opposition in the MCD House. 

Announcing the disciplinary action, AAP stated that it would not tolerate “betrayal of the mandate” or anti-party activities and warned that strict action would be taken against any councillor found engaging in cross-voting. 

In the elections held on Wednesday for the posts of chairperson and deputy chairperson of 12 MCD ward committees, the BJP won 10 and secured five of the six seats in the Standing Committee members elections.