MCD polls: Delhi BJP issues first list of 232 candidates

New Delhi, Nov 12: The Delhi BJP on Saturday released its first list of 232 candidates for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections with the nominees including 126 women, three Muslims, seven Sikhs and nine former mayors, according to a party statement.

The remaining 18 candidates will be announced later, it said, Elections to the 250-ward-strong Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will be held on December 4. The counting of votes will take place on December 7. The names of 232 candidates were announced after the approval of the party's national president J P Nadda, said Delhi BJP general secretary Harsh Malhotra. It was the first time that the BJP gave religious and caste breakups of its candidates for any elections.

Former mayor and Delhi BJP general secretary Harsh Malhotra said 23 Punjabis, 21 Vaishyas, 42 Brahmins, 34 Jats, 26 Purvanchalis, 22 Rajputs, 17 Gujjars, 13 Jatavs, nine Balmikis, nine Yadavs, one Sindhi and two from Uttarakhand have been given tickets. "The candidates also include seven Sikhs, three Muslims and one from the Jain community," he said. The list of candidates also included 41 outgoing councillors.

In total, 52 former councillors from the last 10 years have been given tickets for the MCD polls. The three Muslim candidates fielded by the BJP are Shabnam Malik from Mustafabad, Irfan Malik from Chandni Mahal and Saba Gaji from Chauhan Bangar. The former mayors fielded in the elections included Raja Iqbal Singh, Avtar Singh, Neema Bhagat and Sunita Kangda. The BJP which was ruling the three municipal corporations in Delhi for 15 years till their reunification is pitted in a keen contest against the AAP and the Congress.

In the last elections in 2017, the Delhi BJP won 181 of 272 wards routing the AAP and Congress. The AAP had managed to win only 48 wards and Congress 30. The BJP-ruled Centre this year unified the three corporations into MCD. The number of wards has been reduced to 250.