NEW DELHI: Five Aam Aadmi Party councillors in the MCD switched their allegiance to the BJP on Sunday.
BJP leaders believe this development will enhance their prospects in the forthcoming standing committee elections.
The councillors who joined BJP are Ram Chander from Shahbad Dairy (ward 28), Pawan Sehrawat from Bawana (ward 30), Mamata Pawan from Harkesh Nagar (ward 177), Sugandha Bidhuri from Tughlaqabad (ward 178), and Manju Nirmal from Badarpur (ward 180), according to a statement by Delhi BJP.
During a press conference while announcing the new members, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said: “When any member of the opposition joins BJP, it is due to the efficiency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his welfare schemes, which have given new hope to the people of the country.”
Councillor Manju Nirmal said, “We were not able to work in the area as we did not have much power. If the mayor had listened to us, then we would not have had to change the party. We kept so many proposals but nothing was happening. Not even a sanitation worker was getting transferred on our insistence,” she said. She added that after joining BJP, she was hopeful that her work would be done.
BJP MPs Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and Yogender Chandolia, along with senior party leaders Arvinder Singh Lovely and Raj Kumar Anand, were present at the joining event at the Delhi BJP office.
Bidhuri welcomed the councillors and leaders and said that BJP gives everyone a chance to work positively. He urged all councillors to work on development in their wards while adhering to party discipline.
The mayor, earlier this week, issued an order to the municipal secretary asking him to start the process for the election of the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the ward committees, as well as one member each from the 12 zones of MCD to the standing committee.
When the elections had happened in Dec 2022, AAP had won 134 out of 250 wards in MCD polls. AAP, which has the majority in MCD, and opposition BJP had been at loggerheads over the standing committee elections, after which the matter went to court.
As per the DMC Act, six out of the 18-member standing committee, MCD’s highest decision-making body, are elected from the House, while the remaining 12 are elected from the ward committees constituted in each of the 12 zones of the civic body.
The defection of these councillors to BJP prior to the election to the 12 ward committees and the standing committee may prove to be a game-changer.
Based on the distribution of 250 elected councillors and 10 nominated members, BJP earlier had an advantage in 5 zones: Civil Lines, Shahdara North, Shahdara South, Najafgarh and Keshavpuram. While AAP had an advantage in 7 zones: South, West, Karol Bagh, City SP, Rohini, Narela, and Central.
In the central and Narela zones, AAP was leading by one vote. But now, in the changed equations with councillors – two from Narela (Pawan Sehrawat and Ram Chander) and three from Central zone (Mamta Pawan, Sugandha Bidhuri, and Manju Nirmal) – joining BJP, the saffron party will have a clear-cut majority in seven zones. AAP, on the other hand, will have a majority in 5 zones.
Since one member will be elected from each ward for the standing committee and six from the House, the party having a majority in the 18-member committee will get its chairperson.
BJP leaders believe this development will enhance their prospects in the forthcoming standing committee elections.
The councillors who joined BJP are Ram Chander from Shahbad Dairy (ward 28), Pawan Sehrawat from Bawana (ward 30), Mamata Pawan from Harkesh Nagar (ward 177), Sugandha Bidhuri from Tughlaqabad (ward 178), and Manju Nirmal from Badarpur (ward 180), according to a statement by Delhi BJP.
During a press conference while announcing the new members, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said: “When any member of the opposition joins BJP, it is due to the efficiency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his welfare schemes, which have given new hope to the people of the country.”
Councillor Manju Nirmal said, “We were not able to work in the area as we did not have much power. If the mayor had listened to us, then we would not have had to change the party. We kept so many proposals but nothing was happening. Not even a sanitation worker was getting transferred on our insistence,” she said. She added that after joining BJP, she was hopeful that her work would be done.
BJP MPs Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and Yogender Chandolia, along with senior party leaders Arvinder Singh Lovely and Raj Kumar Anand, were present at the joining event at the Delhi BJP office.
Bidhuri welcomed the councillors and leaders and said that BJP gives everyone a chance to work positively. He urged all councillors to work on development in their wards while adhering to party discipline.
The mayor, earlier this week, issued an order to the municipal secretary asking him to start the process for the election of the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the ward committees, as well as one member each from the 12 zones of MCD to the standing committee.
When the elections had happened in Dec 2022, AAP had won 134 out of 250 wards in MCD polls. AAP, which has the majority in MCD, and opposition BJP had been at loggerheads over the standing committee elections, after which the matter went to court.
As per the DMC Act, six out of the 18-member standing committee, MCD’s highest decision-making body, are elected from the House, while the remaining 12 are elected from the ward committees constituted in each of the 12 zones of the civic body.
The defection of these councillors to BJP prior to the election to the 12 ward committees and the standing committee may prove to be a game-changer.
Based on the distribution of 250 elected councillors and 10 nominated members, BJP earlier had an advantage in 5 zones: Civil Lines, Shahdara North, Shahdara South, Najafgarh and Keshavpuram. While AAP had an advantage in 7 zones: South, West, Karol Bagh, City SP, Rohini, Narela, and Central.
In the central and Narela zones, AAP was leading by one vote. But now, in the changed equations with councillors – two from Narela (Pawan Sehrawat and Ram Chander) and three from Central zone (Mamta Pawan, Sugandha Bidhuri, and Manju Nirmal) – joining BJP, the saffron party will have a clear-cut majority in seven zones. AAP, on the other hand, will have a majority in 5 zones.
Since one member will be elected from each ward for the standing committee and six from the House, the party having a majority in the 18-member committee will get its chairperson.