Weeks after breaking away from the AAP and forming a separate front, leaders of Indraprastha Vikas Party (IVP) have expelled one of their own — Vikas Nagar councillor Ashok Pandey — for “anti-party activities”. In the tangled world of the city’s municipal politics, a member said, Pandey’s actions were against himself, too — he didn’t vote for himself in the MCD zonal polls. “Ashok Pandey has been expelled from the IVP for six years. His primary membership has been cancelled,” read a statement issued by IVP leader Hemchandra Goyal Friday following a meeting of party corporators and senior leaders at the MCD Civic Centre. “In the last few days, he has been working against the policies of the party. This decision has been taken unanimously,” he added. The Indian Express reached out to Pandey, but he did not respond to multiple calls and messages. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior MCD councillor and a member of the IVP told The Indian Express, “It’s bizarre. He was our candidate for the West Zone chairperson’s post. and he didn’t vote for himself. He voted for the AAP candidate instead.” In the June 2 MCD zonal polls, the IVP got into a backdoor alliance with the BJP. In two zones (West and Rohini), the IVP filed nominations for the post of chairperson. The BJP abstained from contesting for the post; it had contested for the post of deputy chairman in both these zones. In the West Zone, AAP got 13 seats, and the BJP-IVP alliance got 12. For the deputy chairman’s post, the BJP candidate secured 12 votes against AAP’s 13. For the Chairman’s post, the AAP candidate bagged 14 votes. While IVP got 11 — one vote was mysteriously missing. That one extra vote for the chairperson’s vote belonged to Pandey — and he did not vote for himself. How did IVP find out? Aren’t votes cast by secret ballot? According to an IVP councillor, there is a way to track every vote: “Before elections, we assign stamping codes — like how many times to press the stamp — once, twice, thrice, and so on. It’s different for each councillor.” “It helps us see if someone cross-voted. When ballot papers are checked, the missing stamp code shows us who didn’t follow party instructions,” he added. Earlier, on June 9, the BJP had expelled councillor Suman Tinku Rajoura for cross-voting, as she had not voted for the IVP candidate during Rohini’s zone elections and had instead voted in favour of the AAP candidate, causing the IVP-BJP alliance to lose the Chairman’s post. She, too, was suspended for six years.
