MCD meeting has been called today after the order of the Supreme Court

Election for the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will be held today. Due to uproar, three meetings had to be canceled so far and the election kept getting postponed but after the order of the Supreme Court, now the preparations for the mayoral election have been completed. It is expected that Delhi will get a new mayor today. Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Shelly Oberoi as its candidate for the post of mayor, while Rekha Gupta is the BJP candidate.

The Supreme Court had on February 17 ordered the issuance of notice within 24 hours for convening the first meeting of the MCD to decide the date for the election of the mayor, deputy mayor and members of the civic body's standing committee. The Supreme Court issued the order after hearing a petition filed by Shelly Oberoi, the mayoral candidate of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The Supreme Court also said that the members nominated by the Lieutenant Governor to the MCD cannot vote to elect the Mayor.

As per the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, the mayor and deputy mayor are elected in the first session of the House after the municipal elections. However, it has been more than two months since the municipal elections took place. Municipal elections were held on December 4 last year. The meeting of the House was called for the first time on January 6, a month after the municipal elections. The House was adjourned following a heated exchange between members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Subsequently, the second and third meetings called on January 24 and again on February 6 failed to complete the exercise and both were adjourned without electing a mayor. The crisis also affected the annual budget proceedings and the schedule of taxes for the year 2023-24 was passed by the Special Officer of the MCD on February 15. According to the rules, the schedule of taxes has to be passed by the house on or before 15 February. However, the rest of the budget is expected to be passed by the House before March 31, as required. According to the instructions of the Lieutenant Governor, the meeting of the House on Wednesday will be the proceedings of the first meeting of the house adjourned on January 6.