In a significant political development, thirteen municipal councillors have resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, dealing a serious blow to the ruling party’s influence in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The disgruntled leaders have come together to form a new faction named the Indraprastha Vikas Party, under the leadership of veteran politician Mukesh Goel, a former Leader of the House in the MCD.
The development comes at a time when AAP is already facing internal strife and recovering from recent electoral setbacks. Just months ago, the BJP reclaimed the reins of the MCD in civic polls, a contest that the AAP chose to boycott. Furthermore, earlier this year, the party suffered a major defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections, which further weakened its political standing in the capital.
The councillors stepping away from AAP include Mukesh Goel, Hemchand Goyal, Dinesh Bhardwaj, Himani Jain, Usha Sharma, Sahib Kumar, Rakhi Kumar, Ashok Pandey, Rajesh Kumar, Anil Rana, and Devendra Kumar. Interestingly, most of them were formerly associated with the Congress Party but switched allegiance to AAP ahead of the last MCD elections.
Explaining the reasons behind the split, Ward 109 corporator Ashok Pandey told PTI:
“We came here to work for development of our ward. The work is not happening. We were in Aam Aadmi Party for 2.5 years, our main issue was that our colony was unauthorised. So, people were facing issues of garbage and drainage… We didn’t get funds from party to work. We tried to talk to AAP’s senior leadership but there was no action.”
Councillor Himani Jain also expressed her frustration, citing the lack of governance and leadership in the MCD.
“In the last 2.5 years, no work was done in the corporation. We were in power, yet we did nothing. We have formed a new party because our ideology is to work for the development of Delhi. We shall support the party which will work for the development of Delhi. So far, 15 councillors have resigned. More may join.”
The group officially announced their exit and the formation of the new party on Saturday, with Goel at the helm. Goel, a political veteran with 25 years of experience as a councillor, had joined AAP from Congress in 2021 and even contested the 2024 Delhi Assembly elections from Adarsh Nagar but lost.
This is not the first time AAP has witnessed a defection of its municipal leaders. Just three months prior, three councillors Anita Basoya (Andrews Ganj), Nikhil Chaprana (Hari Nagar), and Dharamvir (R K Puram) shifted allegiance to the BJP.
Leadership Gap Triggers AAP Exist
The discontent among the councillors appears to stem from a perceived lack of support and communication from AAP’s senior leadership. Despite being in power within the MCD after the 2022 civic elections, several councillors claim that the party leadership failed to coordinate effectively with them, ultimately weakening AAP’s hold and pushing it into the Opposition.
To manage the rising dissatisfaction, AAP carried out a major restructuring in March, naming Saurabh Bharadwaj as the new president of its Delhi unit. Former deputy CM Manish Sisodia was handed charge of Punjab, while Gopal Rai was appointed in-charge of Gujarat. AAP’s national general secretary Sandeep Pathak took over as special in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
Despite these internal adjustments, the exodus of these 13 councillors signals ongoing turmoil within the Delhi unit of the Aam Aadmi Party. With more councillors expected to follow suit, the launch of Indraprastha Vikas Party could reshape the local political landscape ahead of future municipal and state elections.