Congress to abstain from MCD Standing Committee election, says Devender Yadav

New Delhi: The Congress will abstain from Thursday's MCD Standing Committee election, the party's Delhi chief Devender Yadav said.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Standing Committee election will be held to fill the vacancy created after BJP councillor Kamaljeet Sehrawat was elected to the Lok Sabha.

"We have decided to abstain from voting in the Standing Committee election," Yadav told reporters.

The 18-member Standing Committee is the MCD's highest decision-making body.

AAP currently has 124 councillors in the 250-member MCD while the BJP has 115 and the Congress nine. There is one Independent councillor and one seat is vacant.

In the Standing Committee, the BJP secured seven seats through ward committee elections earlier this month while AAP holds five.

According to the committee's current composition, the BJP has nine seats and AAP eight.

In 2023, the Standing Committee results threw up an even split of 3-3 for the BJP and AAP. However, one of these seats fell vacant after Sehrawat's election to the Lok Sabha and her subsequent resignation.

AAP has fielded its Sainik Enclave councillor Nirmala Kumari while the BJP nominated Sunder Singh for the vacant seat.