In a political shift within the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), 13 councillors elected on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) tickets resigned and announced a new political front called the Indraprastha Vikas Party (IVP).

These resignations reduced AAP's strength in the MCD from 113 to 100. BJP now holds 117 seats, and Congress holds 8.

Hemanchand Goyal, the councillor from Moralband, leads the group. They intend to function as an independent bloc within the MCD. In a signed letter to the MCD, the councillors cited dissatisfaction with AAP’s leadership and poor coordination as the primary reasons for their departure.

“All of us municipal councillors were elected in the Delhi Municipal Corporation in the year 2022 on the ticket of Aam Aadmi Party, but despite coming to power in the Delhi Municipal Corporation in 2022, the top leadership of the party was unable to run the Delhi Municipal Corporation smoothly. The coordination between the top leadership and the municipal councillors was negligible, due to which the party came into the opposition. Due to failure to fulfil the promises made to the public, we, the following councillors, are resigning from the primary membership of the party,” they wrote in the letter.

AAP responded by accusing the BJP of trying to poach its councillors. The party alleged, “Since the Mayoral elections, the BJP has been trying to poach our councillors. Each councillor was offered Rs 5 crore. The BJP does not have a majority to form the Standing Committee or Ward Committees — so it is resorting to buying people. Because we exposed the BJP’s horse-trading attempts during the Mayor election, they are now staging a drama by pretending these defections are from another party. But make no mistake — this is the BJP’s operation from start to finish. In the coming days, the truth will be undeniable.”

Although the IVP claimed that 15 councillors had joined, only 13 have publicly confirmed this so far.

The councillors who joined the new front include Dinesh Bhardwaj from Bankner ward — an Arjuna Awardee and former captain of the Indian Kabaddi team; Himani Jain from Vasant Vihar; Usha Sharma from Sadar Bazar; Sahib Kumar from Vikas Puri; Rakhi Yadav from Hatsal; Ashok Pandey from Vikas Nagar; Rajesh Kumar from Mubarakpur; Sumar Anil Rana from Rohini-B; and Devendra Kumar from Mayur Vihar Phase 2.

The most notable defection is that of Mukesh Goel, the former Leader of the House in the MCD. Goel was earlier a prominent Congress leader in the MCD, joined AAP before the 2022 civic elections, and became the party’s Leader of the House. A senior municipal figure, he also contested the Adarsh Nagar assembly seat on an AAP ticket.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Goel said, “The party will only function as a front at the MCD level. The AAP was sitting at the helm of the MCD for 2.5 years; in that period, the councillors have not been allotted any budget, the councillors were told to not raise matters of concern from their areas, there were constant fights between the AAP and the BJP and the AAP never acted like a responsible government and never agreed to sit and listen to the concerns of the opposition. They never allowed the monthly house meetings to be held, and they would always end in a ruckus; there was gross civic neglect. Our plan is to act like a strong opposition at the MCD level that the AAP has been unable to do.”

When asked whether AAP’s decision to replace him as the MCD’s Leader of the Opposition had any influence on his resignation, Goel replied, “During my Congress tenure, after working as the standing committee chair for years, the party had named Jai Kishan ji to be the new standing committee chair and I continued to work as a normal karyakarta for years. It’s about mutual respect, which is lacking in the leaders of this party. They don’t even pick up our calls.”

Goel made the announcement at a press conference at the Constitution Club, where he also suggested that more councillors may join the new front soon.

This move came just weeks after the BJP regained control of the MCD by winning the mayoral election, reversing its position after two years in opposition.

The timing holds added importance as elections for chairpersons of the 12 zonal ward committees are approaching. These committees help shape the powerful 18-member Standing Committee.

The Standing Committee plays a crucial role in the MCD. No proposal above Rs 5 crore can be approved without its consent.

Earlier, AAP had control of five zonal committees. In the 18-member Standing Committee, the BJP secured 9 seats, while the AAP held 8. One seat remained vacant due to a deadlock between AAP and BJP, preventing the committee’s full formation.

These recent defections may now further affect AAP’s standing in the upcoming MCD leadership elections.