The election for mayor in Delhi is scheduled today, Thursday, at 2 pm, during a House meeting at the Civic Centre, the municipal corporation headquarters, which will be overseen by Presiding Officer Satya Sharma. During the elections, councilors and various members will vote using ballot papers, ensuring that strong security measures are taken to avoid any disruption. Delhi Police and paramilitary forces will be deployed to maintain peace. If all goes well, Delhi will get a new mayor today after a delay of 7 months.
Also read: Delhi Waqf Board case: Big relief to AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, court grants bail
Nominated MLAs and members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha will participate in the mayor election, but aldermen are not eligible to vote. The MCD is required to hold mayoral elections every April, in which the responsibility for the first year is given to a woman councilor and for the third year, the responsibility is given to a Scheduled Caste councilor, thus making the third year election a mandatory election. Although the BJP does not have a majority, it has fielded its candidates for both the posts of mayor and deputy mayor, raising concerns among AAP councillors, especially with Satya Sharma serving as the presiding officer.
The mayoral candidates are Mahesh Kumar from AAP (Ward No. 84, Dev Nagar) and Krishna Lal from BJP (Ward No. 62, Shakurpur). The candidates for the post of Deputy Mayor are AAP’s Ravindra Bhardwaj (Ward No. 41, Aman Vihar) and BJP’s Neeta Bisht (Ward No. 247, Sadatpur). Notably, the company took a major step towards improving transparency by removing the curtains that obscured the ballot boxes. BJP currently has 114 councilors, 7 MPs and one MLA, according to which the voting figure can reach around 122. On the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party has 127 councilors and Rajya Sabha MPs and 13 MLAs. However, the possibility of cross voting also remains.
Also read: Waqf Board money laundering case: Court reserves verdict on charge sheet against Amanatullah Khan
Entry into A Block for voting will be limited to councilors and election officials, family members will not be allowed to enter. Each participant will be screened before entry. Set to elect a new mayor and deputy mayor on Thursday afternoon, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Wednesday appointed BJP councilor Satya Sharma, a former mayor of East Delhi, as the presiding officer over the election. The Aam Aadmi Party has protested against Saxena’s move to not appoint the outgoing mayor or the senior-most councilor to monitor the election proceedings to ensure equality and fairness.
