After two unsuccessful efforts last month amid a spat between the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP, leaders of Delhi’s civic council will meet again on February 6 to pick a mayor.
The Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP, of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has accused the BJP of attempting to control the Municipal Corporation of Delhi by voting a BJP leader to the mayor’s office, despite the fact that the AAP won much more seats than the BJP in the civic body’s recent election.
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, with whom the AAP has a strained relationship, has agreed to convene a house session of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, or MCD, to elect the mayor.
According to PTI, the MCD attempted to schedule a session in the 250-member assembly on February 10 to elect the mayor. The Kejriwal administration proposed three dates: February 3, 4, and 6.
Due to contentious confrontations between AAP and BJP officials, the mayor could not be elected when the councillors convened on January 6 and 24.
Shelly Oberoi, the AAP’s mayoral candidate, petitioned the Supreme Court on Thursday, demanding that the poll be held immediately.
“People in Delhi were dissatisfied with the BJP while it controlled MCD. People voted for the AAP to take control the municipal council because they believed Arvind Kejriwal’s promises… The BJP is now plotting to derail the mayor’s election “Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, said.
The AAP won 134 wards in the MCD elections in December, thereby ending the BJP’s 15-year reign in the local body. The BJP finished second with 104 wards, while the Congress received nine seats.
The position of Delhi mayor is filled through a five-year rotation, with the first year designated for women, the second for the open category, the third for the reserved category, and the remaining two for the open category. As a result, Delhi will have a female mayor this year.
Following the merging of three divisions of the municipal body last year, the city will have one mayor for the first time in ten years.