After SC intervention, Delhi will elect mayor and deputy on Feb 22

MCD convened three times in the last two months — on January 6, January 24 and February 6 — but each meeting descended into chaos, and the election of mayor could not take place

Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena has approved a proposal to convene a session of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House on February 22, an order from the Raj Niwas said on Saturday, paving the way for councillors to elect a mayor, a day after the Supreme Court directed that the meeting for the election be notified within 24 hours.

BJP councillors shout slogan against AAP councillors during the elections of Mayor and Deputy Mayor, at the Civic Centre in New Delhi, India, on February 6, 2023. (Raj K Raj/ Hindustan Times)

“As recommended by Chief Minister, I approve the proposal to convene the adjourned first meeting of Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Wednesday, the 22nd February at 11.00am,” the Raj Niwas order, signed by Saxena, said hours after CM Arvind Kejriwal sent in the recommendation as is procedure.

MCD convened three times in the last two months — on January 6, January 24 and February 6 — but each meeting descended into chaos, and the election of mayor could not take place due to a decision by the pro-tem presiding officer — BJP’s Gautampuri councillor Satya Sharma — to allow voting rights to aldermen who are nominated by the LG.

Hearing a petition by Aam Aadmi Party mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi for timely polls, the Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the 10 nominated members have no say in the appointment of mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members of MCD.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, observed that the election has been held up for two months and directed that the meeting be notified within 24 hours.

In a major victory for AAP, which defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party in the December municipal polls winning 134 out of the 250 wards in the Capital, the court also held that once the mayor’s election is over, the person elected will preside over the remaining elections in the House.

“It must be noted that election of mayor is to be conducted first. Once the mayor is elected, the mayor shall be the presiding authority over the election of the deputy mayor,” the bench, also comprising justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, said.

The BJP won 104 wards in the MCD elections, and the Congress nine.

The court’s ruling set into motion a series of procedures to finalise the schedule for the meeting of the House, with the municipal secretariat and the MCD commissioner forwarding the file with the proposed date of February 22 to the Delhi government late on Friday.

After the file was cleared by the state urban development ministry, Kejriwal on Saturday said he has recommended that the MCD meeting be held on February 22. “Recommended MCD mayor elections to be held on 22 Feb,” he said in a tweet.

Hours later, the LG secretariat said that the proposed date has been approved.

The unsuccessful mayoral polls sparked a massive tussle, with the AAP and the BJP blaming each other for the delay. While the AAP has alleged that the BJP is trying to hijack the House so it can continue to rule MCD through nominated members, the BJP has said that the it is the AAP that does not want to elect a mayor.

The AAP’s mayoral candidate is 39-year-old Shelly Oberoi, and the BJP’s is 48-year-old Rekha Gupta.

At the last meeting of the MCD House on February 6, three controversial rulings by Sharma pushed the House into chaos. She ruled that the 10 aldermen will get voting rights, all three elections will be held simultaneously, and directed two AAP MLAs to leave the House chambers, citing past cases against them.

Speaking to HT on Saturday, Sharma said she appeals to all parties to allow the elections to be held in an orderly and peaceful manner. “The Supreme Court has clarified that aldermen will not be able to vote in the mayoral elections, and that the mayoral elections will be held first while the rest of the elections will be held later,” she said.

Sharma said that she will consult legal experts on the matter related to voting rights of the two MLAs with court cases.

AAP councillor Mukesh Goyal said the elections should now be held as per the rules. “We were always for timely elections but the BJP kept using tactics to delay the mayor polls. We welcome the intervention of the court. The presiding officer should also take back the decision regarding the two MLAs. The cases against two MLAs are on hold and the matters are pending in the high court. Presiding officer should not take such decisions.”

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the party hopes that AAP will allow the elections to be held on February 22. “Aam Aadmi Party may disrupt the proceedings of the House after the Mayor’s election because fearing defeat, they do not want to allow the standing committee to be formed. If the Aam Aadmi Party respects the Supreme Court, then they should give an assurance that they will allow the process of formation of the Standing Committee. The new Mayor should hold election for 6 standing committee members on same day and announce constitution of 12 zonal committees. They should commit that like in MCD’s 2017-22 term now too the Aldermen will have the right to vote in Zonal Committees.”

The electoral college for mayor will comprise 250 councillors, seven Lok Sabha members from Delhi, three Rajya Sabha MPs, the 14 MLAs nominated by the speaker of Delhi legislative assembly. The 10 aldermen will not have voting powers in the proceedings.

Delhi has seven BJP Lok Sabha MPs and three AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who can also take part in these elections. On December 23, the Delhi assembly speaker, Ram Niwas Goyal, also nominated 14 MLAs — 13 AAP MLAs and one BJP MLA — to the municipal corporation.