MCD: Shelly Oberoi AAP's mayor candidate, Aaley Mohammed for deputy
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) named Shelly Oberoi (39) as the mayoral candidate for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the election for which is slated for January 6. A professional academician, Oberoi is a first-time councilor from Delhi's East Patel Nagar ward, where she defeated former Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta on his home turf, leading to his resignation from the party's post.
Why does this story matter?
On December 4, the 2022 MCD polls were conducted but recorded a cold response from Delhiites as the voter turnout was 50%. Both the BJP and AAP were involved in an aggressive poll promotion, with the exit polls predicting a clear victory for AAP. With the victory, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP ended BJP's 15-year-long reign of the Delhi civic body.
Oberoi was visiting professor at DU
Oberoi was a visiting professor at Delhi University (DU) and is a lifetime member of the Indian Commerce Association (ICA). She did her Ph.D. at Indira Gandhi National Open University's (IGNOU) School of Management Studies and has won several awards at conferences. Meanwhile, AAP nominated a second-time councilor from Chandni Chowk and AAP MLA Shoaib Iqbal's son, Aaley Mohammed for the deputy mayor's post.
AAP declared four candidates for Standing Committee
Tenure limited to just three months
As per Section 35 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, each year in its first meeting, the corporation must elect one of the members as the mayor and another as the deputy mayor. Under the current provisions of the DMC Act, the first woman mayor would have her tenure truncated to three months, mandating fresh elections in April 2023.
To be elected by the college of representatives
The mayor also called the city's first citizen, isn't elected directly by voters but by a college of the newly-elected corporators of all 250 wards—except those who have been nominated, and Delhi's 14 MLAs and 10 MPs. Despite losing the MCD elections, BJP earlier said that the mayor's election was an open game and claimed that their candidate will be seated on the chair.
