AAP vs AAP: ‘Under pressure’ claims Dy Mayor ‘backup’; party points to BJP

POLLS TO elect the MCD Mayor and Deputy Mayor are barely a week away, but the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has found itself in a bind. In a post online on Friday, one of its ‘backup’ nominees for the Deputy Mayor’s post hinted that he is allegedly under pressure to withdraw his nomination.

AAP, in response, alleged it is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s tactics to dismantle the party. The BJP retorted that the AAP’S workers are simply standing up against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s corruption”. The mayoral polls, slated for April 26, are a major political test for the AAP, and its ally Congress, after the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

On Thursday, right after its chosen candidates filed nominations for the polls, two more AAP councillors arrived and threw their hats into the ring for the post of Deputy Mayor. This prompted murmurs of“fissures” in the party in the Opposition camp, but sources in the a a ph ad been quick to state that the two “latecomers” — Vijay Kumar and Narendra Kumar — were “backups”.

Vijay, the Trilokpuri councillor, even posted a photo on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) in which he is seen sitting with AAP minister Atishi and wrote, “I am a soldier of Arvind Kejriwal. I was with Aam Aadmi Party. I am with Aam Aadmi Party and I will remain with Aam Aadmi Party. I am not contesting the mayoral election.” However, his post was subsequently deleted.

On Friday, in a U-turn, Vijay posted a fresh post on X, in which he tagged Atishi, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak, EX-MLA Nitin Tyagi and the party’s official handle, and wrote: “This is my personal decision. I request you not to involve my family in politics. Serving the public/doing politics is my job, the doors of my house are always open for you, you can come anytime, but I request you again not to put any kind of pressure on my family.”

In yet another video message in the evening, he said: “I will contest the election for Deputy Mayor and will win. Please do not put any pressure on me and my family.”

When contacted for comment, he did not respond.

In a veiled reference to Vijay, the AAP said: “A true soldier of Arvind Kejriwal always believes in party discipline unwaveringly and will refuse to become a puppet of the BJP, regardless of any temptations offered.”

It added, “We are fighting a demonic power called BJP, they will try all deceitful tricks and tactics imaginable to unsettle us.”

Reacting to the claims, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor alleged, “Many volunteers joined Arvind Kejriwal trusting his melodramas of ideal honest talks. With his corruption sagas coming out, many volunteers are pondering and may quit AAP. This is not defection for any temptation, but... a sincere voice of the soul (that is) making volunteers stand up against Kejriwal’s corruption."

Sources also claimed that many councillors are unhappy that Prem Chauhan, AAP’S former Leader of Opposition, was not fielded for the mayor’s seat. “All councillors have looked up to him as the next Mayor; the party leadership, instead, decided to field a candidate who hardly has any experience at the MCD...,” an MCD councillor said on condition of anonymity.

For the polls, the AAP has officially fielded Mahesh Kumar Khichi, the Dev Nagar councillor, for the Mayor’s position and Aman Vihar councillor Ravinder Bhardwaj for the Deputy Mayor’s post. While Khichi is a first-time councillor who has been associated with the AAP since the Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement, Ravinder is a two-time councillor.

In the BJP camp are Kishan Lal from Shakurpur for the post of Mayor and Neeta Bisht from Sadatpur for Deputy Mayor, both two-time councillors.

Meanwhile, the MCD Friday sought the Election Commission’s permission to conduct mayoral polls on April 26 and also urged L-G V K Saxena to appoint a presiding officer, a civic body official said.