Mayor polls: BJP to field candidates; AAP candidates file nominations

The AAP, which has a majority of 134 councillors in the 250-member House, has fielded a professor turned councillor Shelly Oberoi as its candidate for the post of Mayor, and three-time councillor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal for the post of deputy mayor

With the BJP announcing to field its candidate for the Mayoral pollls, the MCD House is set for a high-stakes battle in its first meeting on January 6.

The elections will be held on January 6, when the elected councillors will meet for the first time after elections this month. Once all councillors are administered oath, the House will conduct the elections. (HT Archive)

The AAP, which has a majority of 134 councillors in the 250-member House, has fielded a professor turned councillor Shelly Oberoi as its candidate for the post of Mayor, and three-time councillor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal for the post of deputy mayor, besides four members for the post of members of standing committee. All AAP nominees filed their nominations on Monday afternoon.

With an Independent councillor joining the BJP on Monday taking the party’s strength to 105, Delhi BJP working president Virender Sachdeva said that the party will field candidates against AAP’s candidates. “We will field candidate for the post of mayor, deputy mayor and three members of the standing committee. The names will be announced on Tuesday,” said Sachdeva.

Tuesday is the last day to file nomination for the Mayoral election. The outcome of the election will be watched keenly as cross voting is common in elections for the post of Mayor since anti-defection law does not apply.

The elections will be held on January 6, when the elected councillors will meet for the first time after elections this month. Once all councillors are administered oath, the House will conduct the elections.

An MCD official said that under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution the anti-defection law applies to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies only, and not civic bodies. The mayor election is held through secret ballot.

The electoral college for the Mayor includes the 250 elected councillors, 10 MPs from Delhi (seven of Lok Sabha, three from Rajya Sabha) and 1/5th of the members of the Delhi Assembly (14 MLAs) nominated by the Speaker by rotation every year. The Speaker on Friday nominated 13 AAP MLAs and one BJP MLA for representation in the MCD.

Besides 134 councillors, the AAP has three Rajya Sabha MPs, 13 MLAs in the electoral college (150 votes), the BJP has 105 councillors, seven Lok Sabha MPs and one MLA (113 votes).

AAP leaders Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi, Durgesh, and Adil Ahmed Khan, who have been appointed coordinators for the MCD, joined the AAP candidates when they filed nomination at Civic Centre. “All of the nominations have been accepted, and on behalf of the party and all AAP supporters, and on behalf of Shri Arvind Kejriwal, we wish the candidates all the best for their upcoming tasks in the MCD,” Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

AAP’s Sarika Chaudhary, Raminder Kaur, Mohini Jeenwal and Aamil Malik are AAP’s candidates for the Standing Committee -- the most powerful MCD panel.