New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has finalised six names as its candidates for various MCD posts, with Shelly Oberoi emerging as the choice for the mayor’s post, and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal as the candidate for deputy mayor’s post in the civic body in Delhi.
It is the selection of Iqbal, a councillor from Chandni Mahal ward, which is being seen as a political message to the Muslim voters who shifted towards the Congress in the recent MCD elections.
Muslim voters in riots-affected areas of north-east Delhi largely voted for the Congress in the MCD polls, which was seen in political circles as a sign of the minority community’s disillusionment with Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP for its refusal to speak up on issues concerning them.
Iqbal’s father, AAP MLA Shoaib Iqbal, had joined the party in 2020 after fighting the previous assembly election on Congress’s ticket. Twenty-nine-year-old Iqbal is a three-time councillor. He has also been the chairman of the City Sadar Paharganj Zone.
Shoaib Iqbal said Iqbal’s selection is the party’s recognition of his talent and experience. “He won with the highest vote margin in the MCD this year and also is a three-time councilor. This time, there are many first time councilors. He has more experience and is a talented young person. Whatever Kejriwalji does, he does it with great thought. It is true the party lost some Muslim votes this time, but that could also be due to unsatisfactory performance of some MLAs. However, we won all seats in the Muslim-dominated areas of the walled city,” he told ThePrint. Iqbal defeated BJP’s candidate with over 17,000 votes in the MCD elections.
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Political message in AAP’s move
Although the AAP did win in many wards with substantial Muslim voter base as well— for instance, Chand Mahal, Jama Masjid and Ballimaran — the minority community in riots-affected areas and in the south-east showed a preference for the Congress. The AAP this time got six Muslim councillors, out of which two, including Iqbal, had switched from the Congress.
Political analyst Rashid Kidwai said AAP is increasingly engaging in the same kind of politics for minorities that once Congress did.
“Instead of engaging with issues of the minority community on a deeper level, the Congress also indulged in tokenism or optics. For example, making a Muslim candidate a Governor or giving them some other position, but when real stakeholders came, the Congress lost the battle. AAP got a pronounced shock when some of its voters shifted to Congress,” he said.
Kidwai added that choosing a Muslim candidate is a feeble attempt to retrieve some lost ground. “But will it help? I don’t think so. Next year in the Lok Sabha 2024 election, Muslims are going to see if the Congress has better potential to beat the BJP or AAP and will then vote (accordingly),” he said.
“But even choosing the deputy mayor candidate in Delhi could have some implications …it looks planned. Imagine if Iqbal is elected as deputy mayor candidate, it could send a message to other states, such as UP, Bihar and Karnataka etc where the AAP is laying its foundation. As we saw in the MCD elections too, Muslims in the riot-affected areas did not vote for AAP. In areas which were not affected by riots, they still voted for AAP. So it could be helpful for AAP beyond Delhi also,” he said.
The election for Delhi’s next mayor and deputy mayor will be held on 6 January 2023.
On 7 December, AAP won the MCD polls with 134 seats, ending the 15-year rule of the BJP in the civic body. While the BJP won 104 seats, the Congress was reduced to nine seats in a house of 250.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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