MCD to hold mayor elections today after two failed attempts

After two failed attempts, the Delhi Municipal House is set to convene on Monday to elect a mayor for the city. According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to be elected in the very first House that convenes after the civic polls. However, two months have passed since the municipal elections were held and Delhi is still to get a mayor.

The mayor could not be elected when the House met on January 6 and January 24 after the sessions were adjourned amid a ruckus in the MCD House between the AAP and BJP councillors.

Why Delhi MCD election was postponed?

On January 24, Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi told news agency ANI, "We were sitting in the House to vote since 11 am and when finally, the time came, a ruckus began in the House. This is wrong, democratic principles must be followed."

Meanwhile on January 6, the meeting was dissolved after a huge ruckus broke out regarding the swearing-in of nominated councillors between BJP and AAP members at the Civic Centre, before the commencement of voting for the Delhi Mayor elections.

Mayor elections

The mayor of Delhi sees five single-year terms on a rotation basis. The first year is reserved for women, the second for the open category, third for the reserved category, and the remaining two also being in the open category.

For the current mayor election, AAP has fielded Shelly Oberoi for the mayor's post, BJP's mayoral candidate is Rekha Gupta. The nominees for the post of deputy mayor are Aaley Mohammad Iqbal (AAP) and Kamal Bagri (BJP).

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

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 104 wards to finish second, while the Congress won nine seats in the 250-member Municipal House. 

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