Setback for AAP as 3 councillors jump ship to BJP before MCD polls

The mayoral election is slated for April

Three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, strengthening its prospects in the upcoming MCD mayoral election.

The three councillors who switched over to the saffron party are Anita Basoya (Andrews Ganj), Nikhil Chaprana (Hari Nagar) and Dharamvir (R K Puram).

BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, on their joining, said that Delhi will have a "triple engine" government -- at the Centre, assembly and municipal level -- at the right time to develop it as the capital of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision under a 'Viksit Bharat".

He stated that the councillors joined BJP to make Delhi a clean and beautiful city.

After a decisive win in the recent Assembly polls, securing 48 of 70 seats and displacing AAP (which was in power for a decade), the BJP is setting its sights on a "triple-engine government" by capturing the mayor’s post in Delhi.

The mayoral election is slated for April, with councillors, MPs, and nominated MLAs casting votes for mayor and deputy mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

The AAP had won the last mayoral election, held in November 2024, by three votes.

With three AAP councillors defecting, the BJP now has the upper hand.

The BJP is also going to have 10 of its MLAs nominated to the MCD, while the AAP will have four nominations for the civic body, said BJP leaders.

In the February 5 Assembly polls, eight BJP councillors and three AAP councillors got elected to the assembly.