MCD mayoral polls to be held on January 24 after L-G nod: Officials

The new date has been fixed nearly 20 days after the first meeting of the MCD House that had descended into an ugly brawl and led to adjournment

The mayoral election for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will be held on January 24 after getting approval from Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, officials aware of the development said on Monday.

The MCD Civic Centre in the national Capital. (HT photo)

“I have pursued the note at pre-pages and as proposed, approve the convening of meeting of the MCD on 24th of January, 2023 at 11am… for oath of affirmation, election of mayor, deputy mayor and six members of the standing committee,” the LG has stated in the file.

The new date has been fixed nearly 20 days after the first meeting of the MCD House that had descended into an ugly brawl and led to adjournment.

The MCD House will see the oath-taking ceremony of councillors and the pending elections for the posts of mayor, deputy mayor and six standing committee members.

For the mayor’s post, AAP has fielded Shelly Oberoi while BJP has fielded Rekha Gupta; for the deputy mayor post, AAP has fielded Aaley Mohammad Iqbal while the saffron party has fielded Kamal Bagri.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who holds the urban development ministry portfolio, recently proposed four potential dates for holding the House meeting before Republic Day -- on January 18, 20, 21 or January 24 -- while municipal officials had proposed a meeting on January 30 to the LG.

The MCD has been without a mayor for the past eight months.

Underling the absence of the mayor, Sisodia stated that it will not be appropriate to further delay the process.

As an administrator, the LG decides the date, time, venue and the presiding officer for holding the inaugural house meeting.

The file moves from municipal secretary to commissioner and urban development secretary.

The urban development minister forwards the proposal to the chief minister after which it reaches the LG office for final approval.

The LG has the sole authority to decide the matter, officials said.

The last meeting on January 6 saw AAP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors exchange blows after the former members protested the decision by presiding officer Satya Sharma -- a BJP councillor -- to administer the oath first to 10 nominated members, called aldermen.

The AAP claimed this was done to allow the aldermen to “vote in the mayoral polls” and favour the BJP, while both BJP and the LG denied the allegations.

According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, aldermen do not have voting rights in the House.

AAP has 134 of the 250 councillors while the BJP has 105 (it won 104 seats and one independent candidate joined BJP on Monday) with the Congress having nine councillors besides two independent candidates.

The electoral college for the election of mayor now includes 250 elected councillors, seven members of Lok Sabha, three members of Rajya Sabha and 1/5th of the members of the Delhi Assembly (14 MLAs) nominated by the Speaker by rotation every year.

Delhi assembly 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) where the BJP has 105 councilors, seven Lok Sabha MPs and one MLA (113 votes).

While 10 persons nominated by the LG (administrator) called alderman are also part of the house of councillor, however, they do not have voting rights in the House.