Delhi MCD gets first AAP Mayor; Shelly Oberoi elected; officially ends BJP rule after 15 years New Delhi: After a prolonged battle of nearly three months, Shelly Oberoi defeated Rekha Gupta from the saffron party to be elected as the first mayor of the Aam Admi Party in MCD. Despite having the people’s mandate, the AAP could not elect its mayor since the BJP was trying to get the ten aldermen nominated by the Lieutenant Governor to vote in the Mayor election.
In the polls, Shelly polled 150 votes while her rival Rekha received 116 votes. A total of 266 votes were polled during the Mayoral Polls held in the Civic Centre. Delhi finally got its mayor in the fourth election attempt. The earlier elections were stalled amid a ruckus over voting rights.
Earlier, Supreme Court had to step in to nullify the voting eligibility of the nominated members. The election of Shelly, who will become the first Citizen of Delhi, not only ended the three-month-old impasse but also the BJP’s 15-year rule of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
The MCD has an electoral college of 274 members including 250 elected councillors, seven Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha MPs from Delhi and 14 MLAs. With the majority mark of 138, AAP has 150 votes including 134 elected councillors whereas presently has a strength of 113 votes and if the aldermen were allowed to vote then the BJP’s strength would have climbed to 123 votes.
Though AAP had the people’s mandate, the party failed to choose their Mayor because of the contention over the voting right of the aldermen – the ten members nominated by the Lieutenant Governor. The AAP candidate Shelly Oberoi approached the top court questioning the BJP's plan to anoint the aldermen with voting rights.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud clarified that the nominated members will not have voting rights in choosing the mayoral polls. "Nominated members cannot go for election. The constitutional provision is very clear," the court observed.
After the election of the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, and six members of the Standing Committee were to be elected later in the day. AAP is likely to win three seats and the BJP two, while there will be a tough race for the sixth berth. The BJP was keen on getting the alderman vote as it will help them secure a fighting space in the Standing Committee, which is the most prestigious and powerful unit of the civic body.
