Who is Shelly Oberoi, Delhi's new mayor who chose politics over professorship

39-year-old Shelly is a first-time councilor from Delhi's East Patel Nagar ward. An academician by profession, Shelly has been associated with the Aam Aadmi Party since 2013. Shelly contested the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) election in December 2022 and emerged victorious against BJP.

New Delhi:The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday named 39-year-old Shelly Oberoi as the new mayor of Delhi after she won the Delhi Mayoral polls against BJP's Rekha Gupta by a margin of 34 votes. The first female mayor in the past 10 years in Delhi, Oberoi won a total of 150 votes of the total 266 votes, while the BJP candidate railed with 116 votes.

Shelly is a first-time councilor from Delhi's East Patel Nagar ward. An academician and politician, she has been a member of the AAP since 2013 and had contested the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) election in December 2022, emerging victorious by a margin of 269 votes against a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate.

The AAP later recommended her name as a mayoral candidate for the January 6, 2023 MCD mayoral elections. While talking about her nomination, Shelly told the media that her priority as a mayor would be to ensure the hygiene and cleanliness of Delhi. Shelly Oberoi joined the AAP in 2013 as a volunteer and participated in several AAP-organized campaigns. Her political career thereafter soared and by 2020, she was appointed the vice president of the AAP’s women’s wing in New Delhi.

Oberoi also has a noteworthy background as an academician. A year after joining the AAP, she was appointed as an assistant professor at Delhi University in September 2014. Shelly earned her doctoral degree in philosophy from Indira Gandhi National Open University's School of Management Studies. The councilor has been awarded both the 'Miss Kamla Rani Prize' and a scholarship for achieving the highest grade point average among all the students in the college.

As a visiting faculty, Shelly worked as an assistant professor at the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) in Mumbai in 2021. She has also worked as a professor at government-owned Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

As of December 2022, she has published more than 35 journals and research articles such as Emotional intelligence: An extensive literature review, Impact of blockchain technology and 5G/IoT on supply chain management and trade finance, and Cyber security in India: threats and challenges, among others.

Shelly’s research work has been discussed on national and international platforms. As an academician, she has also been a part of several Faculty Development Programs (FDPs). Her lectures have been featured on Gyan Darshan and Gyan Vani, and aired on Doordarshan.

The 39-year-old councilor is also a lifetime member of Indian Commerce Association (ICA). Shelly has also been an Institutional Innovative Council (IIC) member. The ICA has also presented Shelly with Prof. Manubhai M Shah Memorial Award for Excellence in Commerce and Business Management (MMSMA).