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One mayor, three former mayors in fray in Delhi polls

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
At least 10 municipal councillors including a current mayor and three former mayors from the BJP-led corporations are in the fray in tomorrow's Delhi Assembly poll.

Among the municipal councillors fielded by BJP are former South Delhi Mayor Sarita Choudhary from Mehrauli and former Delhi Mayor Rajni Abbi from Timarpur.

Current Mayor of North Delhi Municipal Corporation Yogender Chandolia is also in the fray from Karol Bagh constituency.

The erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2012 into three separate civic bodies - North, South and East Delhi corporations -- and Abbi was the last mayor before the MCD was split. All three civic bodies are currently led by BJP.
 

Former North Delhi Mayor Azad Singh, who fought last Delhi polls from Mundka and lost, has again been fielded by BJP.

Azad, brother of former Delhi chief minister Saheb Singh Verma -- a well-known politician from Mundka, was defeated in 2013 by independent candidate Rambeer Shokeen. Rambeer's wife Rita Shokeen is now contesting against Azad on a Congress ticket.

Rita is an Independent ward councillor in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and the couple had joined Congress last month.

Deputy Chairman, Standing Committee of the NDMC, Rekha Gupta will try her luck from Shalimar Bagh on BJP ticket.

Chandolia says having served as a councillor and as a mayor will help him "get an edge" over other candidates.

"My priority of course is water and sewerage. But traffic and parking are also major issues in the area. My experience as a councillor is going to come in handy and if people vote me to power, we have also promised to tackle the electricity issues as well," Chandolia told PTI.

Sarita, who is contesting in Mehrauli, is also banking on her stint as Mayor of South Delhi.

"We are doing door-to-door canvassing and reaching out to both men and women. Being a councillor, a former mayor, a woman mayor no less, certainly will tilt the balance in her favour," a member from Sarita's core campaign team said.

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First Published: Feb 06 2015 | 5:00 PM IST

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