New Delhi: The Municipal House in Delhi is all set to convene today to elect a mayor for the city, after the exercise failed in the previous two attempts. This will be the third session after the high-stakes municipal elections held on December 4. The first two sessions – held on 6 January and 24 January – were adjourned by the presiding officer without electing a mayor because the sessions had become disorganized. Ruckus and heated exchange between members of Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party.
As per the DMC Act 1957, the election of the mayor and deputy mayor is held in the first house after the body elections. However, it has been two months since the municipal elections and Delhi is yet to get a mayor.
While the first session of the 250-member House after the civic polls was a complete waste, the second session saw nominated members followed by elected members, many of whom raised slogans like ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Jai’. Shri Ram’ after taking the oath.
The second municipal house, adjourned briefly after the swearing-in ceremony, was later adjourned till the next date by the presiding officer and BJP corporator Satya Sharma.
While BJP members walked out of the chamber raising slogans against AAP and its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, AAP members refused to budge from their seats and held a peaceful protest in the House for nearly five hours.
Before being dispersed from the Civic Centre, senior AAP leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, told reporters after coming out of the House that the BJP was “strangulating democracy” by “not holding” the mayoral election and starting a dangerous tradition”.
AAP leader and party MLA Atishi appealed to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to ensure the election of the mayor, deputy mayor and six members of the standing committee at the earliest.
The third session of the House is to be held on Monday after the high-level municipal elections. The civic polls were held on 4 December and the counting of votes took place on 7 December.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had emerged as a clear winner in the elections, winning 134 wards and ending the BJP’s 15-year rule in the civic body. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured the second position by winning 104 wards.
The Congress won nine seats in the 250-member municipal house, which will be held on February 6 for the third time after the 2022 civic polls. BJP’s mayoral candidate is Rekha Gupta.
The candidates for the post of Deputy Mayor are Ale Mohammad Iqbal (AAP) and Kamal Bagri (BJP).
Apart from the mayor and deputy mayor, six members of the standing committee of the MCD are also to be elected during the municipal house.
The first meeting of the newly-elected MCD House on 6 January was adjourned without electing a mayor and deputy mayor, with AAP councilors strongly protesting the presiding officer’s decision to swear in the first 10 aldermen.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) came into existence in April 1958 and its mayor had impressive power and a great deal of prestige until 2012 when the corporation was divided into three separate civic bodies, each with its own mayor.
But, in 2022, the Center brought a law to integrate North Delhi Municipal Corporation (104 wards), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (104 wards) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (64 wards) into a single entity, though it limited the total Had done it. The number of wards has come down to 250 from the earlier 272 wards.
Thus, after the mayoral election, Delhi will get a mayor for the entire city after more than a decade.
This was also the first municipal election after the redrawing of wards in the previous year, an exercise necessitated after the Center brought in a law in Parliament to merge the three local bodies.
Parliament had on April 5 passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill-2022 to integrate the three civic bodies in the national capital into a new unified entity.
The post of mayor in Delhi sees five single-year terms on a rotation basis, with the first year reserved for women, the second for the open category, the third for the reserved category, and the remaining two also in the open category.
The MCD headquarter is located in the Vishal Civic Centre. In 1958, it started its journey from the historic 1860s Town Hall in Old Delhi, and in April 2010 was shifted to the grand campus.