BJP Eyes MCD Mayor Post, May Bring No-Trust Vote Against AAP: Check Number Game

MCD Mayoral elections are due in April this year. On the other hand, the BJP is all set to form its government in Delhi after 27 years. The saffron party won 48 seats while the Aam Aadmi Party got 22 seats in the recently concluded Delhi Assembly polls for 70 seats. With the BJP back in power, the party is now looking to move beyond the double engine and secure the mayoral post in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which it has been losing by a few votes.

The BJP has ruled the MCD for the longest time and it was AAP which ended the party's rule in 2022 by winning 134 seats in the 250-member house. The BJP had won 104. The Congress managed to secure nine seats, and three councillors were independents. However, some councillors shifted sides and thus, the BJP's number increased to 120 while the AAP's decreased to 122.

To win the Mayoral polls, a party needs the majority of votes. In the last Mayor polls, AAP’s Mahesh Khichi defeated BJP’s Kishan Lal by a margin of three votes. Out of the total 265 votes cast (including that of 14 MLAs and MPs - Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha), Mahesh Khichi polled 133 votes, while Kishan Lal secured 130 votes, with two votes declared invalid.

Who Can Vote In the MCD Mayoral Poll?

The MCD councillors, 14 MLAs (nominated from parties in proportion to their representation in the Delhi Assembly), 7 Lok Sabha MPs and 3 Rajya Sabha MPs are eligible to vote in the MCD Mayoral polls.

If all votes are taken together, it adds up to 250 Councillors+14 MLAs+10 MPs = 274 votes and the majority becomes 138.

Present Strength

In the recent Lok Sabha polls and the Delhi assembly elections, 12 councillors were elected as MP and MLAs. While BJP's Kamaljeet Shehrawat was elected as an MP, eight of the party's councillors were elected as MLAs. On the other hand, 3 AAP MLAs were elected as MLAs. Thus the current strength of the MCD councillors is 238 with 12 positions being vacant.

While in the outgoing assembly, the BJP had just one MLA vote for Mayoral polls given the party's total 8 MLAs, the AAP had 13. In the upcoming assembly, the BJP is likely to have 10 MLA votes and the AAP may get four MLA votes given their current seats -48 and 22 respectively.

Of the present 238 councillors, the BJP has 113 and the AAP has 119. When it comes to MPs, all 7 Lok Sabha MPs are of the BJP while all three Rajya Sabha MPs are of AAP. 

MCD Number Game

The total number of elected members eligible to cast their votes in the MCD Mayor poll is 238+14+7+3 = 262. Of this, the BJP has 113+7MPs+10 MLAs = 130 while the AAP has 119+4 MLAs+ 3MPs = 127. Thus, the BJP has a clear edge in this scenario, given no cross-voting takes place. Thus, a no-confidence motion against the incumbent AAP Mayor is most likely in March. Otherwise, the scheduled Mayoral polls in April may see the BJP riding on a triple-engine government.