Will Delhi get mayor today? After two failed attempts, MCD to hold mayoral election amid BJP-AAP feud

Delhi Mayoral election update: Delhiites are hopeful to get a mayor after they gave a mandate to AAP in the MCD election held two months ago. However, it is doubtful that the warring leaders of AAP and BJP will pacify the ongoing acrimonious political battle.

Delhi Mayoral election update: In its third attempt, the Delhi municipal House convenes on Monday to elect a mayor for the city. The last two attempts were foiled after ugly clashes between leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).

Delhi does not have mayor after two months of polls

As per the DMC Act 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to elected in the very first House that convenes after the civic polls. However, it’s been two months since the municipal elections were held, and Delhi is still to get a mayor.

The first two sessions — held on January 6 and January 24 — were adjourned by the presiding pfficer without electing a mayor following a ruckus and acrimonious exchanges among the members of the BJP and the AAP.

While the first session of the 250-member House after the December 4 poll went fully in vain, in the second session, the nominated members followed by elected members took oath.

After the oath-taking exercise, the second municipal House was adjourned till the next date by Presiding Officer and BJP councillor Satya Sharma.

While BJP members had walked out of chamber shouting anti-AAP and anti-Arvind Kejriwal slogans, the AAP members held a peaceful protest in the House for nearly five hours.

Before dispersing from the Civic Centre, senior leaders of AAP, including Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh told reporters after emerging from the House that by “not allowing” the mayoral election to take place, the BJP was “strangulating democracy” and “starting a dangerous tradition”.

AAP leader and party MLA Atishi had appealed to Lt Governor V K Saxena to ensure the election for mayor, deputy mayor and six members of the standing committee are held at the earliest.

AAP’s mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi had moved SC

The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) mayoral candidate Dr Shelly Oberoi to withdraw her plea demanding the mayor post election be conducted in a time-bound manner. Oberoi withdrew her plea after a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said that the MCD election is slated to be held on February 6 (Monday).

Now, the third session of the House is slated for Monday to elect a mayor. The civic polls were held on December 4 and the counting of votes took place on December 7.

Where does AAP stand

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had emerged as a clear winner in the polls, bagging 134 wards and ending the BJP’s 15-year rule in the civic body.

BJP’s stand
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 104 wards to finish second, while the Congress won nine seats in the 250-member municipal House which will convene on February 6 for the third time after the 2022 civic polls.

BJP’s mayoral candidate is Rekha Gupta. The nominees for the post of deputy mayor are — Aaley Mohammad Iqbal (AAP) and Kamal Bagri (BJP). Besides mayor and deputy mayor, six members of the MCD’s standing committee are also slated to be elected during the municipal House.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had come into being in April 1958 and its mayor wielded influence and carried a huge prestige till 2012 when the corporation was spilt into three separate civic bodies, each having its own mayor.

But, in 2022, the Centre brought a legislation to unify the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (104 wards), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (104 wards) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (64 wards) into a single entity, though it had capped the total number of wards at 250, down from 272 wards earlier.

Thus, after the mayoral poll, Delhi will get a mayor for the city as a whole after a gap of 10 years.

This was also the first municipal elections after the redrawing of the wards, the exercise being necessitated after the unification.

The post of mayor in Delhi sees five single-year terms on a rotation basis, with the first year being reserved for women, the second for open category, third for reserved category, and the remaining two also being in the open category.
(With PTI input)

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