For next year’s Delhi Assembly polls, AAP has fielded many new faces across the 70 constituencies to beat anti-incumbency — including those associated with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Seven of them are sitting councillors and at least 20 others have close familial ties to individuals currently serving or previously associated with the civic body.
Like every other candidate, AAP sources said these 27 were chosen based on popularity and winnability. When the second candidate list was announced on December 9 — five sitting councillors made it to the list — AAP Delhi Convener Gopal Rai had said: “Councillors actively working in constituencies were chosen based on their performance, as the party has been consistently gathering micro-feedback from the public in every seat… Based on public feedback and the positive performance of these councillors, the party has decided to field them as candidates.”
Among the sitting councillors, prominent names include Leader of the House Mukesh Goel who is contesting from Adarsh Nagar. Rakesh Jatav Dharamarakshak, currently Deputy Chairman of Rohini Zone, will represent Mangolpuri. Pradeep Mittal, councillor from Rohini A ward; Punardeep Singh Sawhney, representing Chandni Chowk; and Prem Chauhan, councillor from Dakshinpuri Extension and a member of the Standing Committee are among others.
Then there are candidates whose spouses currently hold significant municipal roles. For instance, Mundka candidate Jasbir Karala’s wife, Manisha Jasbir Karala, is the sitting councillor from Rani Khera. Similarly, Ramesh Pehelwan, a former BJP member now contesting from Kasturba Nagar, is married to Kusumlata Ramesh, the councillor from Kotla Mubarakpur. Naveen Chaudhary, representing Gandhi Nagar, is backed by his wife, Somwati Chaudhary, the Gokalpuri councillor.
Even late changes to the candidate list reflect this trend, as seen in Mahender Chaudhary’s nomination from Mehrauli. His wife, Rekha Chaudhary, is a councillor from the Mehrauli ward.
However, the list isn’t limited to sitting councillors and their husbands. Veteran leaders like Shoaib Iqbal, a six-time MLA and the party’s candidate from Matia Mahal, whose son, Aaley Iqbal, recently served as the Deputy Mayor of the MCD, is in the race.
The AAP’s two-year tenure in the MCD though has not been smooth; since coming to power in 2022, it has locked horns with the Opposition BJP over Mayoral polls as well the Standing Committee elections. Multiple attempts to form the Standing Committee — an 18-member body that manages the purse strings of the corporation, without whose approval no civic services costing over Rs 5 crore can be approved — have failed, leading to civic issues going unaddressed and discontent among residents.
Asked how the party is going to address potential anti-incumbency caused by stalling of municipal services, an AAP source said, “Our teams are on the ground; in every ward, there is a team collecting data on civic issues being faced. We then categorise them: ‘severe’ for issues that would take a long time to resolve such as the existence of a landfill in the area’s vicinity, issues that can be solved within a week like broken roads, or within 24 hours such as garbage piles on roads. We are then directing the agency concerned to resolve it within the stipulated period.”
In a statement, the AAP also blamed the BJP and its dirty politics for trying to delay and obstruct certain projects. “However, (AAP chief) Arvind Kejriwal personally ensured their completion at record speed. Roads are being repaired on a war footing, the issue of medicine shortage has been resolved, and water supply problems have been addressed,” it said.
Candidates The Indian Express spoke to maintained this stance.
Asked if he will face issues during campaigning, Mukesh Goel said, “Everyone knows, the whole of Delhi knows, how work in the municipal corporation has been stopped due to planning and plotting by the BJP. So, I think, we are unlikely to face issues.”
Prem Chauhan said: “We have deployed some of our own workers, along with the MCD staff, to get the work done. The MCD’s basic task is sanitation and we are focusing on that. I am a two-time councillor and I have managed to get all the work done in my ward.” Chauhan is a former leader of the opposition and has been fielded from Deoli.
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