India, July 11 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday strengthened its position in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) after the 16 councillors of the Indraprastha Vikas Party (IVP) - a breakaway faction of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) - formally merged with it in the presence of chief minister Rekha Gupta and Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra.

The merger takes the BJP's strength in the 250-member House to 139, comfortably ahead of AAP's 123. The Congress has nine councillors, while one seat is vacant. Although the BJP had won only 104 seats in the 2022 civic polls, it has steadily increased its numbers through defections over the past two years.

The IVP was formed in May this year after 16 AAP councillors broke ranks with the...