The Supreme Court on Friday will hear a petition filed by Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi seeking timely election of the mayor and deputy mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Dipankar Datta took note of senior advocate A.M. Singhvi’s submissions on the early holding of the MCD mayoral election.
The petition has urged that the mayor election be held in a timely manner, as it has been delayed for more than a month despite the AAP securing a majority in the MCD polls declared on December 7. It has also urged the Supreme Court not to allow the House’s ten nominated members to vote.
The national capital’s mayoral election was halted on January 6 and 24 when the MCD House was adjourned indefinitely by the lieutenant governor-appointed presiding officer in response to a ruckus caused by AAP and BJP councillors.
THE MAYOR’S ELECTION IN DELHI WILL BE THE FIRST
The mayoral election is the first item on the municipal House’s agenda, which is set for February 6 in Delhi. According to the MCD agenda, it will be followed by the election of the deputy mayor and six members of the MCD’s standing committee.
The elections for Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Standing Committee members could not be held on January 6 due to a feud over the presiding officer, allowing the nominated members to take the oath ahead of the elected councillors. On January 24, the House met for the second time, but elections could not be held again.
The AAP won 134 of the 250 wards in the December MCD elections. The BJP won 104 wards. The BJP is concerned that the AAP may create a ruckus in the election of the six members of the Standing Committee.
On the other hand, the AAP believes that the BJP can manipulate the standing committee elections, raising the prospect of another uproar in the House.
The AAP’s national spokesperson, Saurabh Bharadwaj, accused the BJP of hooliganism and halting MCD proceedings, and stated that Leader of the House Mukesh Goel and Oberoi have approached the Supreme Court for directions to ensure that the mayoral election is held on time. According to Bharadwaj, the party also sought a prohibition on aldermen voting.
