AAP MCD Mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi seen casting her vote during the Delhi Mayor election at MCD House in New Delhi on February 22, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
AAP candidate Shelly Oberoi was elected the new Mayor of Delhi on February 22, 2023. Ms. Oberoi secured 150 votes while BJP candidate Rekha Gupta secured 116 votes in what was the fourth attempt at conducting the polls.
With Ms. Oberoi’s election, Presiding Officer Satya Sharma’s role will come to an end. The Mayor will preside over the remainder of the day’s meeting and conduct the elections to the office of the Deputy Mayor and of six members to the MCD’s standing committee.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had fielded East Patel Nagar ward councillor Shelly Oberoi for the post, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had fielded Shalimar Bagh-B ward councillor Rekha Gupta.
BJP MPs Meenakshi Lekhi and Hans Raj Hans were among the firsts to cast their votes. Election to the posts of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and six members of the standing committee are being held.
AAP mayoral candidate Shaily Oberoi (C) with Rajya Sabha MP N.D. Gupta and councillors showing victory sign before Mayor election at MCD House in New Delhi on February 22, 2023.
| Photo Credit:
Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Other BJP MPs—Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, Harsh Vardhan, Gautam Gambhir, Ramesh Bidhuri and Manoj Tiwari—and AAP MPs Sanjay Singh, N D Gupta and Sushil Kumar Gupta also exercised their franchise. AAP MLAs Durgesh Pathak and Atishi also cast their votes.
Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena had on February 18 approved the AAP government’s recommendation to hold the Delhi mayoral elections on February 22.
The Municipal House began half an hour late at around 11.30 a.m.
Satya Sharma appeals for order in House
Before voting began, pro-tem presiding officer Satya Sharma said, “I appeal to all to maintain order in the House, as we are representative of the people”.
Authorities stepped up security inside the Municipal House and on the Civic Centre premises in Delhi for the mayoral poll. Several civil defence personnel, including women members, have been deployed in the chamber of the House.
Supreme Court had on February 17 ordered the issuance of a notice within 24 hours for convening the first meeting of the MCD to fix the date of elections for the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor and the members of the standing committee of the civic body.
The court issued the order after hearing a plea moved by the ruling AAP’s mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi, who had sought an early conduct of the election.
The maiden meeting of the newly elected 250-member MCD House on January 6 was adjourned following ruckus between the AAP and the BJP members, and two successive meetings on January 24 and February 6 were also adjourned without electing the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor amid loud protests by AAP councillors over the presiding officer’s decision to administer oath to the 10 aldermen first.
Both parties have since then blamed each other for the repeated adjournments. The AAP, which holds the majority in the 250-member House with 134 councillors, has alleged that the saffron party is trying to steal its mandate by giving voting rights to the nominated members. The BJP won 104 wards to finish second.
(With inputs from PTI)
