Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP hit by defections as 3 councillors join BJP – Here’s why nothing changes in MCD for now

The Aam Aadmi Party faced another setback last week when three of its municipal councillors joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) mayoral election.

The development in the civic body administration came a week after the saffron party defeated the AAP in the Delhi Assembly polls. The three councillors are Anita Basoya (Andrews Ganj), Nikhil Chaprana (Hari Nagar) and Dharamvir (RK Puram).

Triple Engine Government?

Welcoming the councillors, BJP's Delhi unit president Virendra Sachdeva said that the national capital would 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".

The switch by three AAP leaders means that in Delhi's municipal body, the BJP now has 116 councillors, up from 104 following the MCD polls in December 2022. The AAP’s strength is down to 114, compared to 134 earlier. The Congress has another eight seats. The remaining 12 seats are vacant.

Currently, MCD Mayor Mahesh Kumar is a member of the AAP.

Has the power structure changed in Delhi MCD?

Does the defection of AAP leaders change the power structure in the MCD? Not for now, at least. The BJP has scored a slight majority in the house, but it means little, at least until the end of the current Mayor's tenure in March.

With the joining of the three AAP councillors, the BJP’s tally is now higher than that of the AAP. However, the MCD mayor, an AAP leader, can function without the need to prove a majority until March. With mayoral elections scheduled for April, this certainly benefits the BJP.

How is a Mayor Elected?

The electoral college for the mayoral elections comprises 274 members: 250 elected councillors, ten of the Capital’s MPs (seven Lok Sabha, three Rajya Sabha), and 14 MLAs nominated by the MCD speaker in proportion to the party’s strength in the assembly.

What happened in the last Mayoral election?

The AAP won the last mayoral election, held in November 2024, by three votes. In addition to the councillors, seven Lok Sabha MPs (all BJP), three Rajya Sabha MPs (all AAP), and 14 nominated MLAs in Delhi are voters in the polls for mayor and deputy mayor of the MCD.

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,

In the 2022 MCD polls, the AAP won 134 wards, the BJP 104, the Congress 9, and the Independents 3.