Five of the Aam Aadmi Party’s councillors in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday, reported PTI.
They are Ram Chander from the Shahbad Dairy ward, Pawan Kumar from the Bawana ward, Manju Devi from the Badarpur ward, Sugandha from the Tughlakabad ward and Mamta from the Harkesh Nagar ward.
The BJP’s Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva alleged they were pressured into corrupt practices by the Aam Aadmi Party.
The defections could hurt Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s party ahead of ward and standing committee elections to the civic body, reported The Indian Express. The Aam Aadmi Party has 128 councillors in the civic body while the BJP has 111.
The moves have given the BJP the majority in the Narela Zone. In the Central Zone, the Hindutva party is now positioned to secure the ward committee seats without external support, according to the newspaper.
“This will lead to a 9-9 tie for the elections of the standing committee chairman,” said an unidentified civic body official. “It is too early to say anything but if the BJP gets one more zone then they will bag the standing committee chairmanship. Otherwise, a draw of lots will take place.”
“There is a worry that more councillors might follow the footsteps of these five,” The Indian Express quoted an unidentified Aam Aadmi Party official as saying. “However, there will be no implication on other party matters due to the councillors’ move…as of now, no internal discussion has taken place in the party in this regard.”