Thanks to the BJP's clean sweep in all three municipal corporations, its corporators from southwest Delhi's Dwarka (B) Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Neema Bhagat from east Delhi's Geeta Colony are all set to become mayors of the South and East Corporations in the capital.
On Friday, Sehrawat, Delhi BJP vice-president, and Bhagat, a former councillor filed their nominations for the post of mayor in the two corporations. Analysts say that Sehrawat who has also been the party's Mahila Morcha leader will be the BJP's Jat face, Bhagat will be the party's Uttaranchal face in East Delhi, which also houses a large section of Poorvanchal population.
The two leaders will be elected to the posts unopposed, as no other party has filed nominations for the post till the last day on Friday. The mayoral polls are scheduled for May 19 and 22, for South and East corporations, respectively.
Sehrawat who had emerged as the winner from Dwarka-B with the highest margin of 9,866 votes, said, "I will focus on cleanliness which has been a major issue in the past. Besides, improving education and health sectors will be my priority. I will work in cooperation with the Delhi government and make sure they release funds for the corporation in time."
Bhagat who hails from the hills of Uttarakhand said that sanitation and unauthorised colonies will be her key priorities, "East Delhi has a lot of issues with sanitation and unauthorised colonies. Though all councillors are first-timers, they are good organisers and we hope to address all issues together."
Nominations to the East Delhi's mayoral post were filed in the last hour, as a long drama prevailed over the finalisation of names. According to party sources, besides Bhagat, name of Bhawna Malik, councillor from Mayur Vihar Phase-II was also being considered. But Bhagat's supporters left the office when her name was not being put forward for the post. Bhagat filed her nomination finally after senior party leaders intervened.
For the post of deputy mayor Kailash Sankla from Punjabi Bagh ward was nominated for South Corporation while Bipin Bihari Singh who won from Patparganj ward, has been nominated for East Corporation.
It was not just posts of mayor and deputy mayor that were decided. Nominations for the six members of the Standing Committee were also filed for the South Corporation. Bhupendra Gupta, corporator from Raj Nagar, filed nomination for the South Corporation standing committee chairman. The other members included the party's youngest councillor, 22-year-old Poorva Sankla, who filed her nomination from Raghbir Pura ward. The other names included Shikha Rai from Greater Kailash, Nandini Sharma from Malviya Nagar, and Tulsi Joshi from RK Puram. From other parties, Abhishek Dutt, from the Congress, from 159 Andrewsganj as well as Ashok Kumar, an elected AAP member from Hastsal, also filed their nominations to the standing committee.
Analysis
The domination of the BJP in the recently held civic polls shows in the large nomination of party candidates. However, given the failure of AAP to govern, public expectations will be sky high, and party councillors — some of whom are first timers — will have to learn on the job quickly
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