AAP’s Mahesh Khichi triumphs in Delhi mayoral polls by 3-vote margin

New Delhi
Forty-five-year-old Mahesh Kumar Khichi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor from the Dev Nagar ward in Karol Bagh, won the mayoral elections on Thursday, narrowly beating out Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Kishan Lal by three votes in a four-and-a-half-hour event that clocked significant cross-voting by AAP members. The Congress, meanwhile, boycotted the election process.
A total of 265 votes were cast, of which two votes were declared invalid. The AAP secured 133 votes and the BJP, 130 votes. In the deputy mayor polls, AAP’s Ravinder Bhardwaj, 35, from Aman Vihar was elected unopposed as the BJP withdrew its nomination.
However, Khichi will be mayor for less than five months — MCD councillors are elected every five years, but the councillors themselves elect a mayor from amongst their ranks on an annual basis every April.
After he was declared the victor by presiding officer Satya Sharma, Khichi — who took over as the next mayor of Delhi from incumbent Shelly Oberoi — said he will prioritise cleanliness in his five-month tenure. “There has been cross voting but a victory is a victory even if I win by a single vote or three votes. Minor disagreements can happen. My priority will be to revitalise the sanitation system of the Capital and serve people. Delhi elections will take place shortly and we will ensure that the AAP wins with a clear majority,” he said.
The electoral college for the mayoral election comprises 250 councillors—there is one vacancy— seven Lok Sabha MPs, three Rajya Sabha MPs and 14 nominated MLAs. The AAP has 142 members, the BJP 122, the Congress eight and one is independent. The final tally showed the BJP candidate securing eight additional votes.
According to provisions of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, the mayor’s post in the third election cycle of a house is reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate. However, the election process has been pending since April, as then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was jailed before he could give his assent for the exercise.
The proceedings
The election process on Thursday was delayed by over an hour and started around 3.10pm with Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) commissioner Ashwani Kumar reading out the notification issued by lieutenant governor VK Saxena, appointing BJP councillor Satya Sharma as the presiding officer for the election.
Immediately, Sharma warned candidates against carrying mobile phones and said those found violating the rules would have their votes invalidated—the ban on mobile phones has been a matter of contention between the BJP and AAP, triggering a delay in the standing committee election. Castigating the AAP for delaying the election of an SC mayor, Sharma said: “Your intentions were not right but I will ensure that honest election is held. Don’t try anything wrong or I will have you thrown out.”
The opening statements irked the Congress, with its leader Nazia Danish and other councillors storming the Well of the House, hitting out at AAP and BJP for fighting against one another, and causing public suffering.
“We have decided to walk out of the house and refuse to participate in the mayoral election. AAP claimed to work for the welfare of SC but is working oppositely. Their own SC candidate could not become mayor even after seven-month delay. They are doing nothing to save the rights of SC or carry out any development work in the city,” Danish said.
While Sharma appealed to the Congress councillors to be seated, Congress’ Mustafabad councillor Sabila Begum resigned from the party and addressed a letter to DPCC chief Devender Yadav, alleging the walkout would directly benefit the BJP. She then sat with the AAP councillors and took part in the voting process.
At 3.25pm, the secretariat staff explained the process and the voting started immediately. Of three Rajya Sabha MPs scheduled to take part in the polls, Swati Maliwal was the only absentee. All seven BJP Lok Sabha MPs cast their votes.
The voting process ended at 5.10 and the house went into recess till 5.45pm. The counting process started thereafter, triggering disagreements between the AAP and BJP observers over two votes that were incorrectly stamped. After the process ended, Khichi was declared winner and the house reassembled at 7.40pm, but the BJP members did not show up.
Khichi, acting as the presiding officer for the deputy mayor polls, said BJP’s Sadatpur councillor Neeta Bisht, 41, withdrew her nomination and AAP’s Ravinder Bhardwaj won the polls unopposed.
Parties react
The AAP hailed the poll results as a victory for Dalits.
Delhi chief minister Atishi said: “The anti-Dalit BJP conspired to delay the mayoral elections. But once again, Baba Saheb’s Constitution has won. Thanks to AAP, Delhi got a Dalit mayor. Congratulations to Mahesh Khichi ji on becoming the mayor. I hope that under your leadership, Arvind Kejriwal ji’s work in MCD will move forward.”
The BJP said that while the AAP won the election, it lost politically and Arvind Kejriwal lost the moral ground to remain the party convener as at least eight AAP councillors voted for the BJP and two others “intentionally” invalidated their votes.
“The manner in which AAP councillors voted against Kejriwal’s mayoral candidate without even joining the BJP clearly indicates that very soon, AAP’s rebel councillors might form a separate party. AAP councillors have given Kejriwal his first shock today; the real blow will come from the people of Delhi in February,” BJP’s Delhi chief Virendra Sachdeva said.
Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav said that the party’s councillors walked out due to “horse trading” between the AAP and BJP.
“SC candidate is to be selected for the post of mayor, but both BJP and AAP have worked to attack the rights of scheduled castes and tribes. When only three to four months are left in the mayor’s term, what is the point of SC candidate becoming the mayor? The AAP and BJP are working as A-team and B-team in weakening the Constitution,” Yadav said.