Despite defeat in MCD, BJP eyes Mayor post through 'management'

New Delhi: After experiencing defeat in the MCD polls today, Bharatiya Janata Party has begun preparing for its next battle, this one inside the civic body. The saffron unit is reportedly planning to focus its energy on the upcoming Mayoral polls in the body.

With anti-defection law not applicable in municipalities, the Bharatiya Janata Party is keeping its options open for possible post-poll rejig of numbers by reaching out to elected councillors from other parties, in case the saffron party falls short of the majority in MCD polls.

With the contest for the MCD going down to the wire, the BJP's top brass is understood to be monitoring the situation closely. Party's national general secretary organisation BL Santhosh had visited BJP Delhi's Pandit Pant Marg as well to take stock of the situation.

Sources stated that the BJP is keeping Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on his toes by announcing its desire to have its Mayor in place despite not winning elections.

Sources said the party has begun zeroing in on those who can be approached to seek cooperation when BJP fields its own candidate for the post.

Not to give in easily, the party is also hoping to have their member as head of the standing committee, an important post to hold. However, that too will depend on whether it could manage to win over a few councillors, including AAP, Congress and Independents, during mayoral elections.

As the anti-defection law doesn’t apply to MCD, the elected councillors can switch sides without fear of losing their election. The anti-defection law is applicable in Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

With a favourable Central government, the BJP hopes that it would be able to cobble together an alliance of post polls like-minded councillors, or may even ask them to join the saffron party, sources said.

The MCD polls turned out to be a straight contest between the BJP and the AAP, with the saffron party trying to save its bastion of 15 years. Though the party performed much better than what was predicted in the exit polls and was able to secure over 100 seats.

With the loss of MCD, one of the richest and most powerful civic body’s in the country, the setback to the saffron unit will be immense in the city.

Sources stated that the Delhi BJP unit may see resignations or a change of guard soon in the aftermath of the loss in the polls to AAP. There is a buzz that Delhi unit chief Adesh Gupta may be asked to step down.

With its first-ever victory in MCD polls, the AAP leadership and cadre are enthused about the win and would be willing to go the extra mile to secure a share of power on the third and highest pedestal of power in the national capital. Though Arvind Kejriwal has won back-to-back Assembly polls in Delhi, securing Lok Sabha seats from the national capital has been an elusive task for the party.

The AAP, now well entrenched in two tiers of power in the city, would definitely aim to secure at least two-three Lok Sabha seats from the national capital in 2024, sources said.

However, AAP too has a new headache which is to ensure that each of its councillors will stay with it and not cross-vote if polls for the mayor take place in the MCD house.

"This will keep AAP on its toes as it will have to watch each of its candidates for crossover. And we too have not been routed as predicted. With almost an equal strength, we would be acting as a watchdog over AAP," stated a senior party leader.