AAP's Shelly Oberoi elected Delhi Mayor; party says BJP's tricks failed

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s first-time councillor, Shelly Oberoi, has been elected Delhi Mayor after a controversial election which saw many twists and turns.

Shelly Oberoi defeated Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Rekha Gupta by a margin of 34 votes. MCD officials announced on Wednesday (February 22). Oberoi polled 150 votes while Gupta received 116 votes out of the total 266 votes polled. The voting was held at the Civic Centre.

“I thank Delhi CM, L-G and the Supreme Court for conducting the mayoral polls. I will work with complete honesty and dedication for Delhi’s development” said Oberoi in her brief address after she emerged victorious.

Delhi got the mayor in the fourth attempt since the earlier elections were stalled amid ruckus over voting rights being given to nominated members.

Last week, Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena gave his nod to convene the municipal House for holding the mayoral election following the apex court order. The top court on February 17 ordered the issuance of a notice within 24 hours for convening the first meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to fix the date of elections for the mayor, the deputy mayor and the members of the standing committee of the civic body.

The court issued the order after hearing a plea moved by Oberoi, the ruling AAP mayoral candidate. In a shot in the arm for the AAP, the apex court also held that the members nominated to the MCD by the Lt Governor cannot vote to elect the mayor. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia congratulated Oberoi and the party workers on the win.

“It was clear from Day 1 that AAP would have won. BJP’s dirty tricks have failed miserably. We were very confident that if the election was allowed, we would sweep the Mayoral polls. We are dedicating today’s victory to the people of Delhi,” said Saurabh Bhardwaj, National Spokesperson, AAP.