Mahesh Kumar Khichi of AAP wins Delhi Mayoral election by a thin margin amidst cross-voting scare

A neck-and-neck competition marked the dramatic election, as the newly elected Delhi mayor is Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Mahesh Kumar Khichi. He was declared victorious by a very narrow three-vote margin over BJP's Kishan Lal. In the Delhi mayoral election, held on Thursday, AAP secured 133 votes against BJP's 130, though it had 143 councillors earlier. Eight AAP councillors seemingly voted for BJP, sparking fears of a cross-voting scandal.

The election process was already under controversy as Congress decided to boycott the vote, but Congress councillor Sabila Begum broke ranks and joined AAP, while seven other Congress members stayed absent. Two Congress councillors, including Shagufta Chaudhry, had earlier switched allegiance to AAP and strengthened that position.

Mahesh Kumar Khichi, on the other hand, won by a small margin, though AAP had gone into the vote with an apparent majority. The incidence had come at a time when the 2024 Delhi Assembly election would be just a year away. Dev Nagar first-time councillor Khichi will make a short tenure of five months as mayor.

After cross-voting scare, Khichi still wasnt defeated and maintained, "I have won, even by three votes. We will work for the welfare of Delhi with full dedication." He also says, "AAP councillors are united; there is no conflict within the organisation despite the scare.".

Mayoral election is already delayed by seven months, so added more fuel to already heated political tensions in the city. Khichi blames the delay on BJP interference in the forming of the standing committee wherein those cases were raised and bogged in courts up to the Supreme Court.

The outcome was that BJP had withdrawn the nomination of its candidate, Nita Bisht, as deputy mayor, and AAP councillor Ravinder Bhardwaj was declared the uncontested winner for that position. The outcome marked the end of a dramatic and uncertain process initiated since last mayor Shelly Oberoi who served in February 2023.

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