NEW DELHI: BJP has nominated Rohini E ward councillor Pravesh Wahi as its candidate for the MCD mayoral election scheduled on April 29, putting him in line for an expected victory with the party holding a majority and AAP opting out of the contest. Currently serving as leader of the House in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Wahi is a three-term councillor with a long organisational background in the party and its affiliates.Who is Pravesh Wahi?Pravesh Wahi belongs to the Khatri Punjabi community, and his family migrated from Rawalpindi. He studied at an MCD primary school in Old Delhi and has been associated with RSS since his early teens. He went on to serve as an area representative of Vishva Hindu Parishad in 1990 and later became a district president in 1998. He joined BJP Yuva Morcha in 2002 and held several organisational roles before entering electoral politics. Wahi was first elected councillor in 2007 from Rohini, then Naharpur, and served a second term from 2012 to 2017. During his tenure, he also held key positions, including chairman of the Rohini zonal committee between 2010 and 2012 and chairman of the standing committee in the erstwhile North Corporation from 2016 to 2017. Expressing gratitude towards chief minister Rekha Gupta and other Delhi government ministers for nominating him, Wahi said MCD’s financial crisis was no longer an issue. If elected, he said, he would focus on significantly improving sanitation services with the support of Delhi government, which had been helping with funds.“We took over MCD a year ago and since then have been making all efforts to improve its functioning. I expect and request the opposition to help run the House smoothly and allow discussions on genuine issues,” Wahi said. He added that BJP would prioritise improvements in sanitation, parks, streetlighting and the time-bound management and flattening of landfills. “We will also focus on strict implementation of solid waste management rules. While agencies have been engaged to minimise waste transfer to landfills, residents must contribute through segregation at source. Delhi’s roads will be made pothole-free in collaboration with Delhi govt.”On Monday, Delhi assembly speaker Vijender Gupta nominated 14 legislators to the MCD mayoral poll electoral college, including 11 MLAs from BJP and three from AAP.The next full general election for all 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is likely in 2027, as the current House has a five-year term from its first meeting in late 2022. However, under the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, the mayor’s term is only one year.MPs, who hold voting rights in the MCD along with the 14 nominated MLAs, reviewed their strategy to ensure a smooth victory for BJP’s mayoral candidate Pravesh Wahi, party officials said.The meeting was addressed by Sachdeva and Union Minister of State Harsh Malhotra. It was attended by MPs Manoj Tiwari, Yogender Chandolia and Kamaljeet Sehrawat, among others.Current Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh, mayoral candidate Pravesh Wahi, deputy mayoral candidate Monika Pant, and Standing Committee candidates Jaibhagwan Yadav and Manish Chadha were also present. Singh thanked councillors for their support during his tenure as Mayor and earlier as Leader of the Opposition.Sachdeva said the current MCD House has been effective, adding that “although the party initially came in as a minority, it later became the largest party and, with allied support, succeeded in electing its Mayor last year and is now running the municipal administration.”Malhotra said the party’s recent victory in 15 municipal corporations in Gujarat has boosted morale and urged councillors to ensure full attendance and secure not only 100 per cent of votes but also an overwhelming majority in the elections.(With Agency Inputs)
