Delhi Mayor Election On Monday, Was Stalled Twice Due To AAP-BJP Fight

Leaders of Delhi's civic body will meet again on February 6 to elect a mayor after two failed attempts last month amid a tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, or AAP, has alleged the BJP is trying to capture the Municipal Corporation of Delhi by electing a BJP leader to the mayor's post, although the AAP won far more seats than the BJP in the recent election to the civic body.

Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, with whom the AAP shares a rocky relationship, has agreed to call a sitting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, or MCD, house session to elect the mayor.

The MCD had sought February 10 to call a session in the 250-member house for electing the mayor, news agency PTI reported. The Kejriwal government had suggested three dates - February 3, 4 and 6.

The mayor could not be elected when the councilors met on January 6 and 24 due to acrimonious exchanges between AAP and BJP leaders.

Shelly Oberoi, the AAP candidate for mayor, filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Thursday to demand the election be conducted soon.

"People in Delhi were unhappy with the BJP when it ran MCD. People voted for AAP to take over the municipal body, trusting Arvind Kejriwal's guarantees... Now the BJP is conspiring to stop the mayor's election," Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.

The AAP emerged as the clear winner in the MCD polls in December, winning 134 wards and ending the BJP's 15-year rule in the civic body. The BJP won 104 wards to finish second, while the Congress won nine seats.

The post of Delhi mayor sees five single-year terms on rotation, with the first year being reserved for women, the second for the open category, the third for the reserved category, and the remaining two again for the open category. Delhi will thus get a woman mayor this year.

This will be the first time in 10 years that the city will have one mayor, following the merger of three divisions of the municipal body last year.