The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday suspended three of its Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) councillors for allegedly cross-voting during the ward committee elections, saying the action was aimed at sending a strong message against anti-party activities.

Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj announced that Nirmal Devi Sharma and Krishna Devi Raghav from the West Zone and Sultana Azad from the City-SP Zone had been suspended with immediate effect.

The move comes a day after elections were held for the posts of chairman and deputy chairman across the 12 MCD ward committees, along with the election of six members to the Standing Committee.

Leader of Opposition in the MCD Ankush Narang alleged that two AAP councillors cross-voted during the election for the West Zone chairperson.

"The AAP had 13 councillors, but received only 11 votes, which means two of our councillors cross-voted,” he said, adding that the party had suspended Nirmal Devi Sharma and Krishna Devi Raghav.

Narang further alleged that Sultana Azad did not vote for the party in the City-SP Zone, resulting in AAP losing control of the zone.

The suspensions triggered sharp reactions from both the BJP and the Congress.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor alleged that AAP had targeted women leaders who questioned the party leadership. He claimed that after forcing leaders such as Swati Maliwal, Kiran Bedi and Shazia Ilmi out of the party in the past, AAP had now suspended three women councillors, including Sultana Azad, for allegedly questioning party leaders over the functioning of the MCD and prioritising the development of their wards.

Delhi Congress leader and MCD Congress Legislature Party leader Nazia Danish termed the suspensions a reflection of AAP's internal discord and organisational failure. She said the action exposed the party's claims of transparency and honesty, alleging that factionalism and power politics had overtaken governance in the civic body.