Image Courtesy: The Indian Express
The mayoral election is set to take place on Friday (January 6), a month after the ballots were counted on December 7.
The AAP won 134 wards in the MCD elections, ending the BJP’s 15-year reign in the local body. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finished second with 104 wards. At the same time, the Congress got nine seats in the 250-member municipal House, which again will meet for the first time following the 2022 local elections on January 6.
This was also the first municipal election following the redrawing of wards in the previous year, which was needed when the Centre introduced legislation in Parliament to combine the three local authorities. The consolidated Municipal Corporation of Delhi took effect on May 22, with Gyanesh Bharti and Ashwani Kumar as municipal commissioner and special officer, respectively.
Lt Governor V K Saxena of Delhi nominated BJP councilor Satya Sharma as the presiding officer for the first House meeting to elect the mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Friday.
The Aam Aadmi Party, in response to the appointment, accused the BJP of being on destroying all democratic traditions and institutions.
The first municipal House meeting following the high-stakes civic elections on December 4 is planned for Friday, during which all newly elected councilors will take their oaths and the mayor and deputy mayor will be elected.
Shelly Oberoi and Ashu Thakur (AAP) and Rekha Gupta (BJP) are the candidates for mayor (BJP). Oberoi is the AAP’s major candidate. The candidates for deputy mayor are Aaley Mohammad Iqbal and Jalaj Kumar (AAP), and Kamal Bagri (BJP).