Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Mahesh Kumar Khichi was elected the new mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Thursday, November 14. The AAP's win in the MCD polls came as a major boost to the ruling party in the national capital ahead of the Assembly elections due early in 2025.
Khichi, a Dalit candidate fielded by the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Kishan Lal by a wafer-thin margin of three votes. While Khichi got 133 votes, Lal secured 130 votes. Two votes were declared invalid, news agency PTI reported.
The eight councillors of the Congress did not participate in the voting process.
"I thank the MPs, MLAs, councillors, everyone for making me win in this election," said Mahesh Kumar Khichi after winning Delhi mayoral polls. This was the third mayoral term since the AAP came to power in the MCD in December 2022, ending the BJP’s 15-year rule.
Meanwhile, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said, “Mahesh Kumar Khichi has been elected as Delhi's new mayor. He will try his best to implement Arvind Kejriwal's plans in Delhi and focus on cleaning the national capital. I, on behalf of Arvind Kejriwal, AAP and our councillors, want to congratulate him on his victory.”
Khichi will hold office only for five months as political infighting shortened the tenure. The long-delayed mayoral elections followed a seven-month standoff between the AAP and the BJP, which led to repeated disruptions of the MCD House besides delaying the polls initially scheduled for April this year.
The counting of the votes polled for the election of the deputy mayor is underway. Like the mayor, the new deputy mayor will also get to serve for a period of five months.
The polls, which were delayed from April due to a protracted war of words between the AAP and the BJP, saw the Congress boycott the voting process, demanding a full term for the mayor rather than the truncated tenure now on offer.
