Shelly Oberoi is AAP’s mayor pick, 3-time councillor Iqbal for deputy

The mayor will remain in office till April, as the election for mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members will be held again in the new financial year, said an MCD official

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) named its candidates for the post of mayor and deputy mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Friday.

Shelly Oberoi was named AAP’s candidate for MCD mayor.

The AAP named Shelly Oberoi (39), a first-time councillor who won from East Patel Nagar ward, as its mayor candidate, and Aaley Mohammed Iqbal (31), councillor from Chandni Mahal ward, as its deputy mayor candidate, the party’s national secretary Pankaj Gupta announced after a meeting chaired by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at his residence.

Oberoi was a visiting professor before contesting the election while Iqbal is a third time councillor and son of AAP MLA Shoaib Iqbal. The post of the mayor is reserved for a woman councillor in the first year of the MCD’s five-year tenure.

Oberoi, born in Delhi, has done a PhD from Ignou’s school of management studies, and has been an assistant professor in several universities. She joined AAP as an activist in 2013 and rose to become the vice president of the women wing in Delhi in 2020.

The party has named four persons as candidates for election to the standing committee – Mohammad Aamil Malik from Sri Ram Colony, Raminder Kaur from Fateh Nagar, Mohini Jeenwal from Sunder Nagri, and Sarika Chaudhary from Daryaganj.

Aaley Mohammad Iqbal has been socially active in Matia Mahal for a long time and was elected councillor in 2012 and 2017. In 2012, he was chairman of the city zone of North MCD.

At the first MCD meeting on January 6, the 250 municipal councillors will take oath and elect the mayor and deputy mayor, besides six members of the standing committee, said an official.

The mayor will remain in office till April, as the election for mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members will be held again in the new financial year, said an MCD official.

The first meeting of the MCD will mark the beginning of the five-year tenure of the unified corporation and the newly elected councillors. “The election will be held by secret ballot and no anti-defection laws are applicable in case of cross-voting,” an official said.

Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said AAP’s candidates for mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members, has surprised many because the party has neglected Poorvanchali and Vaishya Samaj communities, who constitute a significant segment of the city’s population.

Delhi BJP working president Virender Sachdeva said, “Discussions are on with party leaders about fielding candidates for the mayor and deputy mayor polls.”

To be sure, councillors are free to vote for anyone in the mayoral polls, irrespective of party affiliations, since the anti-defection law does not apply. The results of MCD elections were announced on December 7.

The AAP won 134 of the 250 seats, and the BJP won 104.

Meanwhile, Delhi assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Friday nominated 13 AAP MLAs and one BJP MLA who will represent the assembly in the civic body for a year.