Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Aaley Mohammad Iqbal was elected as the new Deputy Mayor of Delhi. He received 147 votes against BJP candidate Kamal Bagri who got 116 votes, to emerge victorious.

Earlier in the day, AAP's Shelly Oberoi became the first mayor of the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi after winning 150 votes while her opposition, BJP's Rekha Gupta got 116 votes out of the total 266 votes polled. This was the new municipal council’s fourth attempt to elect a mayor since the previous elections were stalled due to controversy over voting rights being given to nominated members.

Who is Aaley Mohammad Iqbal?

Aaley Mohammad Iqbal is the son of AAP's Shoaib Iqbal, a six-time MLA from Matia Mahal. He won from Ward No 76, Chandni Mahal with a record margin of over 17,000 votes against Irfan Malik of BJP and Mohammad Hamid of Congress. The 33-year-old AAP leader is a three-time councillor among the many fresh-faced councillors from AAP. A high-school graduate, he completed his Class 12 from the National Institute of Open Schooling in 2010.

Many are calling his selection for the post as the AAP’s attempt to appease Muslim voters. The party lost most of its Muslim supporters after the 2020 Delhi riots. Nearly all seats in Northeast Delhi, the area which saw the majority of the violence, snubbed the AAP in the recent MCD elections. However, his father Shoaib Iqbal had told The Print in December 2022 that Aaley was chosen as the candidate due to his experience and large winning margin.

“Iqbal’s selection is the party’s recognition of his talent and experience. He won with the highest vote margin in the MCD this year and also is a three-time councilor. This time, there are many first-time councilors. He has more experience and is a talented young person. Whatever Kejriwalji does, he does it with great thought. It is true the party lost some Muslim votes this time, but that could also be due to unsatisfactory performance of some MLAs. However, we won all seats in the Muslim-dominated areas of the Walled city,” Shoaib told The Print.

Also read: Delhi finally gets new mayor as Aam Aadmi Party’s Shelly Oberoi wins elections

(Edited by : Pradeep John)