AAP seeks Congress' support for MCD Mayoral Election

New Delhi, Jan 10: Amid the brawl between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the election of a new mayor for Delhi, AAP is now trying to seek support from the Congress councilors. According to the AAP sources, now the party is trying to get in contact with nine Congress councilors who won the elections earlier and is trying to get their support.

 

 

 

Seven out of the nine Congress councilors come from minorities, so the party hopes that the Congress councilors can help them to win against the BJP.

 

 

 

As the Congress party has announced a walkout from the voting process, AAP still sees the Congress's decision to walk out as indirect support to the BJP. Despite having a majority in the house, the AAP could not win the mayoral elections. Voting is also to be held for the election of six Standing Committees along with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor in Delhi. AAP expects to win almost 3 out of 6 seats in the Standing Committee while BJP is expecting to win 2 seats. Both parties are trying to win the remaining one seat. The AAP is almost sure that they will win the seat of mayor and deputy mayor, the party sources said. Now amid all this, the party sources said that they are trying to get the support of the Congress councilors. However, on behalf of the Congress, Delhi PCC President Anil Chaudhary has clearly said that the Congress party is firm on its decision to walk out. On January 6, amid chaos and a clash between BJP and AAP councilors at the Civic Centre, the MCD House was adjourned even before the commencement of voting for mayoral polls. Councilors from both parties clashed and then took to protests with sloganeering against each other ahead of the Delhi Mayor polls. Marshals had to make their presence felt as several councilors were injured in the process. BJP has claimed that its councilors Inder Kaur, Anita Deoli, and Kamaljeet Sherawat sustained injuries during the protest while AAP took to social media to list its injured. "There was a fatal attack on our councilor in the MCD House. BJP councilors involved in the attack," AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

 

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A huge ruckus was witnessed at the Civic Centre, before the commencement of voting for the Delhi mayor elections, over the swearing-in of nominated councilors. High drama ensued in the house for over an hour as Delhi was all set to elect its first single mayor in 10 years after the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was unified last year. High pitched ruckus was heard in the MCD House as the presiding officer invited alderman Manoj Kumar to take oath first. The presiding officer, MCD commissioner, and other officials left the House after the ruckus. Aam Aadmi Party, which won the MCD polls, with 134 seats has fielded two candidates - Shelly Oberoi along with Ashu Thakur. While Rekha Gupta, a three-term councilor from Shalimar Bagh, is the BJP's nominee for the mayor poll.