Delhi to get new mayor as MCD votes tomorrow in fourth attempt

After three failed attempts to hold mayoral elections, Delhi is finally set to get its new mayor on February 22 as ordered by the Supreme Court. Elections to the posts of mayor, deputy mayor and six standing committee members will be held on Wednesday after Delhi Governor V K Saxena gave his nod to convene the municipal house last week.

On February 17, the Supreme Court ordered a notice to be issued within 24 hours to convene the first meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to fix the date for the election of mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members. civil body. The court passed the order after hearing a plea filed by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi seeking an early election. In a shot in the arm for the ruling AAP, the apex court also ruled that members nominated by the L-G to the MCD cannot vote for the mayoral election. According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are to be elected in the very first session of the House after the civic polls.

However, it has been more than two months since the municipal elections that took place on December 4 last year.   A month after the big municipal polls, the Chamber of Deputies met for the first time on January 6. It was adjourned after heated exchanges between BJP and AAP members. The second and third meetings called for 24 January and 6 February also failed to exercise and both adjourned without electing a mayor, sparking a major political tussle between the parties in the two months since the polls. The crisis also hit the annual budget proceedings and on February 15, the MCD special officer approved the tax schedule for 2023-24 as the advisory wing did not come forward. The tax schedule must be approved by the House on or before February 15, according to norms.

However, the remaining budget is expected to be approved by the House as needed by March 31, as the new advisory wing headed by the mayor will begin functioning on February 22. The House, which will meet on Wednesday, will be a reconvening of the adjourned first House held on January 6, as per the direction from the L-G. “In exercise of the powers vested in him under Section 73 of the DMC Act, 1957, the Administrator, the Hon'ble Lt Governor of NCT of Delhi, fixed the adjourned first meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Wednesday, February 22. , 2023,” said a notification issued by the civic body on February 18. The election of the mayor, deputy mayor and six members of the standing committee will take place at the meeting and the program will remain the same, it says.

The Municipal House experienced an unprecedented development from January 6. The second House, which was held on 24 January, was briefly adjourned after the oath-taking ceremony and was later adjourned to the next date by Speaker pro-temporary and BJP councilor Satya Sharma. The adjournment prompted councillors, 13 MLAs and three Rajya Sabha MPs from the AAP to sit on a dharna for nearly five hours in the chambers of the House – Aruna Asaf Ali Sabhagar – at the Civic Center demanding an immediate vote. Members of both BJP and AAP held each other responsible for derailing the proceedings.

The Delhi Municipal House then reconvened on February 6 as the city hoped to get a mayor. However, it failed to elect a mayor for the third time in a month following an uproar over the decision to allow MLAs to vote in the polls, despite the AAP claiming it was a "planned conspiracy" by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to stall the process and saying it would move the Supreme Court. to seek "judicially monitored" elections. The petitioner, Oberoi, moved the high court on February 7. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha and Justice JB Pardiwala during Friday's hearing ordered that the election of the Delhi Mayor will be done in the first meeting of the MCD and after the election, the Mayor will preside over the Deputy Mayor elections.