NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday announced its candidates for the upcoming MCD mayoral polls, nominating Dev Nagar ward councillor Mahesh Khichi for the post of mayor and Aman Vihar councillor Ravinder Bhardwaj for the post of Deputy Mayor.
Both candidates filed their nominations on Thursday. For this year, the MCD mayor will be elected from the reserved category.
Khichi has been associated with the party since its formation in 2012 and was part of the 2011 India against Corruption (IAC) movement led by Arvind Kejriwal. A BCom graduate from Delhi University’s Moti Lal Nehru College, Khichi has previously served as a booth president, ward president and Karol Bagh RWA president. He has also campaigned for the party in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
“Considering his contribution to the party, he was fielded as candidate from Dev Nagar ward. He won, and in the last one year, he has worked diligently with the people on the ground. Considering all of this, the party has decided to make him the mayoral candidate for the upcoming term,” Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai said at a press conference.
Rvinder Bhardwaj too has been associated with the AAP since its inception and was part of the anti-corruption IAC movement.
He is a second-time councillor from Aman Vihar ward number 41, which falls under the Kirari assembly constituency. He had joined the AAP as a local in-charge. He has served as a booth president and mandal president.
Bhardwaj has also been a member of the North MCD standing committee (2019-2021) and member of the working committee and appointment committee. He has done his graduation in political science from the Delhi University and post-graduation from IGNOU.
The post of mayor sees five single-year terms on a rotation basis, with the first year being reserved for women, the second for open category, third for reserved category, and the remaining two again for the open category. This year, the MCD mayor is being elected from reserved category of councillors.
Meanwhile, the BJP has fielded Kishan Lal, councillor of Ward no. 62, Shakarpur as its candidate for Mayor. AAP currently has 124 councillors in the 250-member MCD house as opposed to the opposition BJP’s 104.