In 2017, at the age of 45, Sardar Raja Iqbal Singh made his electoral debut when he won the MCD election from the GTB Nagar ward. He went on to hold several posts in the civic body and was appointed Mayor of the erstwhile North Delhi Municipal Corporation (MCD) in 2021-22.

On Friday, Singh was elected the MCD Mayor after the BJP swept the Mayoral election. The former Leader of Opposition said his priorities will be to take strict action against unauthorised buildings and the land mafia.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said it would abstain from the polls, accusing the BJP of indulging in “politics of sabotage and horse-trading,” leaving the Congress with its 8 councillors to fight against the BJP’s majority of 117 councillors.

Addressing the MCD House after the announcement of his win in the elections, Singh said, “In the past few years, the pace of development in Delhi had slowed down. I promise that my team of councillors will hasten this pace. I will work with my full commitment to ensure that all work, including clearing landfills, better schools and civic amenities, is done.”

Referring to the expansion of the BJP’s metaphorical “double engine” sarkaar into a “triple engine” one, Singh said, “Now that the lotus has bloomed in Delhi and MCD, we will work to better Delhi.”

The 53-year-old said he studied at an MCD school. He has a BSc degree from Delhi University’s SGTB Khalsa College (1989-92), where he was actively involved in student politics and had been elected college president. He also pursued an LLB from Chaudhary Charan Singh University (2007-2010) and an MBA from Annamalai University.

Before his political stint, Singh used to live in Melbourne, Australia, where he was helping his sister run a store. “I was an Australian citizen, my whole family used to live there. But my wife is extremely orthodox and religious; she did not feel comfortable there, so she came back. I, too, moved back to India to be with her,” he told On his return to Delhi, he joined the Akali Dal.

His family has long been associated with the Akali Dal. For the past five terms, members of the Singh family have held the GTB Nagar municipal seat. In 2022, the ward was merged with the Mukherjee Nagar seat.

Singh’s father-in-law, a contractor, who was a member of the gurdwara committee, had represented the GTB Nagar ward as a councillor. “When the ward was reserved for women, the baton passed to my brother-in-law’s wife, Reema Kaur ji… after my father-in-law passed away, the ticket was once again given to our family in 2017 [the seat was no longer reserved]… I took charge; since then, I have been elected twice,” Singh said, who won from Mukherjee Nagar in 2022.

His brother-in-law, Inderpreet Singh, is actively involved in Akali politics.

After winning the MCD polls in 2017, Singh was first appointed deputy chairperson and then chairperson of the Civil Lines zone — a post he held until September 2020.

That month, when the Akalis pulled out of the NDA over the farm laws, the party’s Delhi leadership asked Singh to resign from his Civil Lines post. He refused. Nine months later, the BJP elevated him to the post of the Mayor of the erstwhile North MCD. “Now with Akali politics down in Delhi and most of its leaders joining the BJP, Singh knows his future is more secure in the BJP,” a BJP leader had said at the time.

One of his first tasks as North Delhi mayor was carrying out the contentious demolition drive in Jahangirpuri. On April 16, 2022, during a yatra on Hanuman Jayanti, violence broke out between two communities. Over 20 people were arrested in connection with the violence, with five accused booked under the National Security Act, 1980.

Three days later, the BJP wrote to the North MCD about the “illegally constructed homes” of the rioters. The following day, the civic body, led by Singh, demolished several structures — many owned by Muslims — in Jahangirpuri.

Singh is known in the corporation as a man of few words — someone who keeps his cards close to his chest and waits to make the right move. This was visible during the demolition drive in Jahangirpuri.

While several BJP leaders were vocal in demanding “action against rioters”, Singh issued no statements till a decision was taken the night before the drive.

And when he did speak, he ensured it was in line with the party’s stand.

On April 20, 2022, the morning of the demolition, he was at the spot and later spoke to the media at length in support of the drive. “This is an anti-encroachment drive… It should not be seen through a religious angle. It’s a drive against encroachments of a temporary nature, as we have had a lot of complaints from RWAs and locals,” he had said.

At present, the BJP’s current strength in the MCD is 117, owing to multiple defections from the AAP over the past few months.

Source : indianexpress