Ahead of the April 25 elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced that it will not be contesting the mayoral election in Delhi. The party does not have enough seats in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the majority.

“We have decided that we will not field an Aam Aadmi Party candidate in the Mayor’s elections this time. BJP should elect its own Mayor, BJP should form its own standing committee and should rule Delhi without any excuses,” AAP Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj said today. Bharadwaj said that there is now a triple-engine government in Delhi, so the BJP should show how they plan to work for the people of the national capital. The Delhi Municipal Corporation will hold its regular meeting on April 25, during which the elections for mayor and deputy mayor will take place. The nomination process began on April 15 and will close today (April 21) at 5 PM. Candidates can withdraw their nominations at any time before the election is held.

The current mayor, Mahesh Kumar, completed his term on March 31. In the previous mayoral election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won by a narrow margin, with Mahesh Kumar defeating the BJP’s Kishan Lal by just three votes. In recent months, the AAP and the BJP-led Delhi government have been in conflict over the Mahila Samman Yojana. The AAP has blamed the ruling BJP for not starting the scheme, which promises ₹2,500 every month to eligible women. This scheme was one of the BJP’s main promises during the fiercely contested Delhi elections. 

In February, the BJP made a strong comeback in the national capital, winning for the first time in over 20 years by defeating the AAP. After being out of power for 27 years, the BJP secured 48 out of 70 Assembly seats. This victory was a significant turnaround for the BJP, which had only won 11 seats in the previous two elections combined. On the other hand, the AAP, which was hoping for a third consecutive term, faced a major defeat, winning just 22 seats.