The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday declared its candidates for the April 26 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) mayoral polls, fielding Mahesh Khichi for the post of mayor and Ravinder Bhardwaj for deputy mayor. Meanwhile, the BJP has announced Krishna Lal for the post of Mayor and Neeta Bisht for the post of Deputy Mayor. The new mayor will be elected in a general house meeting of MCD councillors on April 26. Khichi, 45, who represents Dev Nagar ward number 84 in the MCD House, has been associated with the AAP since its inception in 2012. He was also a part of the 2011 India Against Corruption (IAC) movement that led to birth of the Arvind Kejriwal-party. Considering his contribution to the party, he was fielded as candidate from Dev Nagar ward. He won, and in the last one year, he has worked diligently with the people on the ground. Considering all of this, the party has decided to make him the mayoral candidate for the upcoming term, Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai said at a press conference. Khichi has campaigned for the AAP in many elections, including those in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.  He has also served as booth president, ward president and RWA president of Karol Bagh. The Dev Nagar ward falls under the Karol Bagh assembly constituency. Khichi is a B.Com graduate from Delhi Universitys Moti Lal Nehru College.  This year, the MCD mayor is being elected from reserved category of councillors. The post of mayor sees five single-year terms on a rotation basis, with the first year being reserved for women, the second for open category, third for reserved category, and the remaining two again for the open category.       Earlier in the day, Khichi and Bhardwaj filed their nomination papers for the polls. Opposition BJP in the MCD House is yet to announce its candidates for the polls.                Bhardwaj too has been associated with the AAP since its inception and was part of the anti-corruption IAC movement. He is a second-time councillor from Aman Vihar ward number 41, which falls under the Kirari assembly constituency. He had joined the AAP as a local in-charge. He has served as a booth president and mandal president. Bhardwaj has also been a member of the North MCD standing committee (2019-2021) and member of the working committee and appointment committee. He has done his graduation in political science from the Delhi University and post-graduation from IGNOU. With 134 councillors in the 250-member MCD House, the AAP expects both its candidates to get elected to their respective posts with ease. BJP has 104 councillors. The AAP-led MCD is currently being headed by Mayor Shelly Oberoi and Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal.

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