New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) The BJP on Thursday named Parvesh Wahi as its official candidate in the Mayoral election, a contest he is sure to win as the Opposition AAP has decided to abstain from the April 26 poll.

Wahi is a councillor from ward number 53 named Rohini E. For the Deputy Mayor’s post, the BJP has nominated Monika Pant, a councillor from ward number 206 named Anand Vihar, said a statement issued by Delhi BJP.

The crucial elections to pick members of key committees of the MCD are also likely to be conducted on April 26.

An official list of candidates issued by Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said that the party will field Jaibhagwan Yadav, a councillor from ward number 27 named Begampur, as its candidate for the post of Leader of the House and member of the Standing Committee.

The BJP also nominated Paharganj councillor Manish Chadha for election to the Standing Committee.

The BJP has 123 councillors in the 250-member Municipal Corporation of Delhi, and the victory of its candidates in the civic body’s internal elections is almost certain.

Wahi, 59, won the 2022 civic elections with a huge margin. He is currently the Leader of the House in MCD.

Delhi AAP convenor Saurabh Bharadwaj announced earlier this week that the party will not contest the Mayoral election.

He said the AAP wants to give the BJP one more chance to perform in the civic agency so that it fails again and gets exposed before the people.

In the last Mayoral elections in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, BJP’s Sardar Raja Iqbal Singh bagged the top civic post.

Iqbal was pitted against Congress’s Mandeep Singh.

For the Deputy Mayor’s post, BJP’s Jaibhagwan Yadav was being challenged by Congress’s Ariba Khan.

The AAP, which has already decided to abstain from the election by not fielding a nominee, has backed out of the contest as it has realised that the BJP has a numerical superiority in the civic House, said a Delhi BJP leader.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has also slammed the AAP on several occasions for conceding defeat and deciding to abstain from the April 26 Mayoral elections, claiming the decision appeared linked to infighting and fear of political embarrassment.

“Today, AAP councillors and leaders are upset with their own leaders. The party is fast losing ground in Delhi, and people don’t trust them anymore,” she said.

–IANS

rch/uk