Delhi awaits first unified civic body mayor in 10 years

Two weeks after a failed attempt to elect a mayor, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is set to hold the election for the post again on Tuesday.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Shelly Oberoi and Aaley Mohammad Iqbal as its candidates for mayor and deputy mayor, respectively. Rekha Gupta will contest for the mayor post and Kamal Bagri as her deputy from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Oberoi, born in Delhi, has done a PhD from Ignou's school of management studies and has been an assistant professor at several universities. She joined AAP as an activist in 2013 and rose to become the vice president of the women's wing in Delhi in 2020.

Besides the 250 councillors, 14 Delhi MLAs, and 10 Delhi parliamentarians form the electoral college for the mayor. The AAP has the backing of 150 councillors while 113 support the BJP. The Congress has nine councillors and two others are independents. High drama and chaos unfolded on January 6 as AAP and BJP clashed over the swearing-in of nominated councillors, also known as Aldermen.

The elections for the capital's 250-member civic body were held last year on December 4 and the results were declared on December 7. AAP had emerged victorious by winning 134 seats, whereas the ruling BJP was able to win 104 wards.

On January 6, high drama ensued in the house for over an hour as Delhi was all set to elect its first single mayor in 10 years after the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was unified last year.

High pitched ruckus was heard in the MCD House as the presiding officer invited alderman Manoj Kumar to take oath first. The presiding officer, MCD commissioner and other officials left the House after the ruckus. Councillors from both parties clashed and then took to protests with sloganeering against each other ahead of the Delhi Mayor polls in early this month. Marshals had to make their presence felt as several councillors were injured in the process.