'The goons lost': AAP cheers as candidate Shelly Oberoi wins Delhi mayor polls
1 min read 22 Feb 2023, 02:18 PM ISTThe proceedings of the municipal House began on Wednesday to elect the new mayor of Delhi, the exercise taking place after much delay since the high-stakes civic polls.
PremiumAam Aadmi Party leader Shelly Oberoi was elected the Mayor of Delhi on Wednesday, securing 150 votes and defeating BJP candidate Rekha Gupta by 34 votes. The elections took place after numerous delays and a Supreme Court order calling for the situation to be resolved at the earliest. The polls had previously been stalled amid ruckus over voting rights being given to nominated members.
“Today in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, hooliganism was defeated and the people of Delhi won. Congratulations to the people of Delhi for electing Shelly Oberoi as Mayor," tweeted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Hindi.
"The goons lost, the public won. Many congratulations to all the workers as AAP candidate has become the mayor in Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Once again whole hearted gratitude to the people of Delhi. Many many congratulations to the first Mayor Shelly Oberoi of AAP," echoed Deputy CM Manish Sisodia.
The municipal House, which began half an hour late at around 11.30 am, also elected officials to the posts of deputy mayor and six members of the standing committee.
The AAP had emerged a clear winner in the December 4 MCD polls - bagging 134 wards and ending the BJP's 15-year rule in the civic body. However the mayoral elections faced several hurdles with the House descending into chaos on repeated occasions. Prior to this, there had been three failed attempts to hold the polls.
In a shot in the arm for the AAP, the Supreme Court had held last week that members nominated to the MCD by Lt Governor VK Saxena cannot vote to elect the mayor. The apex court had also ordered the issuance of a notice within 24 hours for convening the first MCD meeting to fix the date of the elections.
Following this, the L-G gave his nod to convene the municipal House for the polls.
(With inputs from agencies)
