ALAM BLOGG

Shelly Oberoi of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was re-elected mayor of Delhi on Wednesday after BJP nominee Shikha Rai withdrew her nomination. She was appointed to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) from Ward 86 in Patel Nagar. After three failed efforts, Oberoi defeated BJP candidate Rekha Gupta by a margin of 34 votes. Deepali Kumari was beaten by 269 votes. Meenakshi Lekhi, a BJP MP from New Delhi Constituency, was the first to vote. She was succeeded by MPs such as Sanjay Singh, Hansraj Hans, and Ramesh Bidhuri. The AAP was also effective in electing Aaley Mohammed, a second-term councilor from Chandni Chowk, to the position of deputy mayor. Mohammed is the son of AAP legislator Shoaib Iqbal.

In Delhi, the mayor is elected for five one-year terms on a rotating basis. The first year is reserved for women, the second for the open category, the third for the reserved category, and the last two for the open category once more. The elections were held after the Supreme Court ruled that nominated members, known as aldermen, could not be granted the ability to vote.

The unrest was sparked by the statement by then-presiding officer and BJP councilor Satya Sharma that the ten alderman appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor would be permitted to vote in the mayoral elections. The verdict was invalidated by the Supreme Court because it violated the norms of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act. The election on February 22 was the fourth attempt to elect a mayor, as the process on the previous three occasions could not be completed due to a squabble over voting rights being granted to nominated members.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (104 wards), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (104 wards), and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (64 wards) merged last year, with a notification published to the public effect on May.

Shelly Oberoi, 39, was a part-time professor at Delhi University. She is also a member of the Indian Commerce Association for Life. She earned her Doctorate in Philosophy from Indira Gandhi National Open University’s School of Management Studies (SOMS). Her master’s degree in commerce was also obtained at Himachal Pradesh University. Shelly joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2013 and was nominated vice-president of the Delhi AAP’s women’s section. She was elected as the Delhi State Vice President of the Aam Aadmi Party’s women’s branch two years ago. Oberoi had the greatest grade point average among college students, earning her the ‘Miss Kamla Rani Prize’ and a scholarship. She is also a lifetime member of the Indian Commerce Association and has been recognized at several conferences.

Dr. Shelly Oberoi, the mayor of MCD, stated the priorities that “the party had given 10 guarantees during the elections, they will be fulfilled. Delhi will be cleaned and transformed. The promises made by Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal to the public will be fulfilled The BJP had not done any work and had turned Delhi into garbage, we will fix all of it now.”

Congratulating Shelly Oberoi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal encouraged her to work hard and live up to the public’s expectations. “Congratulations Shelly and Aley on again becoming Mayor and Dy Mayor, this time unopposed. Best wishes to both. People have huge expectations from us. Work hard to meet their expectations,” Mr Kejriwal tweeted.