AAP's Mahesh Khichi elected as Delhi mayor, Ravinder Bharadwaj deputy mayor

The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Mahesh Khichi was elected as the next mayor of Delhi on Thursday, marking a significant victory for the ruling party in the national capital ahead of the Assembly polls due early next year.

As Khichi took his seat, the jubilant AAP councillors filled the air with the "Jai Bhim" slogan, celebrating the victory of the Dalit candidate in a tough contest.

Khichi defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Kishan Lal by a wafer-thin margin of three votes, receiving 133 votes to the latter's 130. Two votes were declared invalid, with a total of 256 votes cast for the mayor's post.

Following its defeat in the mayoral poll contest, the BJP withdrew from the race for deputy mayor, clearing the way for the AAP's Ravinder Bharadwaj to secure the position unopposed. The saffron party had fielded Nita Bisht for the deputy mayor's post.

"Many congratulations to Mahesh Kumar ji on being elected as the new Mayor of Delhi. Work diligently for the people, take forward the good work being done in MCD," AAP national convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a post on X.

Eight AAP councillors cross-voted, helping the BJP increase its vote share in the election, party officials said. One vote from the BJP and one from the AAP were declared invalid, they added.

The seven Congress councillors did not participate in the voting and one councillor resigned from the party at the last moment.

The AAP candidates emerged victorious after a closely-contested election in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), following months of tension between the Kejriwal-led party and the BJP.

The polls, initially scheduled for April, were postponed due to procedural delays.

The Congress boycotted the voting, calling for a full term for the mayor rather than the truncated tenure on offer. "We want the Dalit mayor to get a full tenure instead of just four months," a Congress councillor said.

The day began with an uproar in the MCD House as the Congress councillors, led by the Leader of the Party Nazia Dhanish, raised slogans and stormed into the well. Dhanish accused the administration of denying a Dalit mayor a full term.

The Congress members raised slogans accusing the AAP of being anti-Dalit, while the AAP councillors responded with chants in support of Kejriwal.

In a dramatic twist, Congress councillor Sabila Begum resigned from the party just ahead of the voting. Her resignation letter, posted online by her husband, revealed her intent to support the AAP nominee.

Key political figures, including AAP MPs Sanjay Singh and N D Gupta, along with all seven Lok Sabha MPs of the BJP from Delhi, exercised their franchise.