Delhi Mayor Polls On Wednesday, Date Announced After Big Court Order

A day after the Aam Aadmi Party's big win in the Supreme Court, which ruled that members of Delhi's civic body appointed by the Lieutenant Governor cannot vote in the election to choose a mayor, the Lieutenant Governor approved Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's proposal to hold the mayor election on February 22. It will now be held at 11 am in MCD Sadan -- the head office of the civic body.

The elections have been postponed thrice in over two months amid a prolonged tussle between the ruling AAP and the Centre-appointed Lieutenant Governor over whether nominated members have the right to vote.

After the election of the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor, and 6 members of the Standing Committee will be elected on the same day.

The decision came just hours after Arvind Kejriwal accused Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena of committing criminal contempt of court in the recent case on the voting rights of appointed members of Delhi's civic body, by trying to get his lawyer to argue both sides of the case.

AAP has alleged the BJP was trying to capture the civic body by electing a BJP leader to the mayor's post, even when AAP was the clear winner in the December election to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, or MCD.

AAP and BJP locked horns on whether council members, or aldermen, appointed by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, could vote to elect the Mayor. AAP protested when they tried to vote, and the house descended into chaos. The election was eventually postponed again. The aldermen would have added to the BJP's numbers, AAP had alleged. 

Mr Kejriwal tweeted the Supreme Court order "proved how the Lieutenant Governor and the BJP have been passing illegal orders in Delhi".

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.