Who is Sardar Raja Iqbal Singh? Former Akali Dal leader is BJP's pick as Delhi mayoral candidate

Sardar Raja Iqbal Singh belongs to a family that shares deep ties with the Akali Dal.

The BJP picked Sardar Raja Iqbal Singh as the party’s mayoral candidate for the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi's annual election on April 25.

The BJP has also announced that Jai Bhagwan Yadav will be contesting for the post of Deputy Mayor. Currently, AAP controls the mayoral post, as Mayor Mahesh Kumar Khinchi won the election in November 2024 by just three votes.

"This is the win of Delhi's public that was fed up of AAP government. Now, a triple-engine government will be formed and Delhi development begin... Lotus will bloom in the entire civic centre as we have a lot of support from people..." Singh told ANI.

Singh belongs to a family that shares deep ties with the Akali Dal. His father-in-law had represented the GTB Nagar constituency earlier as councillor. Singh’s brother-in-law is also actively involved in Akali politics, according to Indian Express.

Until 2020, Singh was also the Akali Dal councillor from GTB Nagar and chairperson of the corporation’s Civil Lines zone. However, when the Akalis pulled out of the NDA over the farm laws, the party’s Delhi brass asked Singh to resign from his Civil Lines post. But Singh refused. The BJP eventually elevated him to the post of the mayor of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation.

Singh is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the MCD and has served as the former Mayor of North MCD, the Former Chairman of the Ward Committee in Civil Line Zone, and a former councillor of Mukherjee Nagar Ward 13.

“Now with Akali politics down in Delhi and most of its leaders joining the BJP, Singh knows his future is more secure in the BJP,” a BJP leader told IE.

His first task, if he wins, would be carrying out the contentious demolition drive in Jahangirpuri. On April 16 2020, during a yatra on Hanuman Jayanti, riots broke out between Hindus and Muslims in the area. Over 20 people were arrested in connection with the violence.

The BJP wrote to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) about the “illegally constructed homes” of the rioters. Following the BJP letter, the NDMC, led by Singh, demolished several structures in Jahangirpuri.

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi convenor, Saurabh Bharadwaj, told reporters on Monday that the ruling party should "elect its own Mayor, the BJP should form its own standing committee and should rule Delhi without any excuses”.

"Whether we call it the 4-engine government or 3-engine, as sometimes the 4th engine is the LG (VK Saxena), which sometimes works and does not, today he is silent," Bharadwaj said.

Currently, AAP controls the mayoral post, as Mayor Mahesh Kumar Khinchi won the election in November 2024 by just three votes.