AAP's Shelly Oberoi elected mayor of Delhi in a hotly contested poll

AAP mayor Shelly Oberoi and deputy mayor Aaley Mohammed. (Picture Credit: @AAPReport twitter)

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Shelly Oberoi was elected as the mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on February 22 after three failed attempts.

Oberoi got 150 votes and defeated Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate Rekha Gupta by 34 votes.

The MCD House had convened earlier on January 6 and 24, and later again on February 6, but couldn’t elect a mayor and the deputy mayor amid a din between BJP and AAP councillors.

AAP councillors were against the decision of 10 nominated members being administered oath before the elected representatives. They also protested against the nominated members being allowed to vote in mayoral elections.

The Supreme Court on February 17 held that nominated members cannot vote in Delhi Mayor polls.

The new mayor 

Shelly Oberoi was a visiting professor at Delhi University (DU). She is also a lifetime member of the Indian Commerce Association (ICA). Oberoi did her PhD from Indira Gandhi National Open University's (IGNOU) School of Management Studies.

Also read: MC Explains | Delhi’s First Citizen and her powers

The AAP has been also successful in electing its second-time councillor from Chandni Chowk, Aaley Mohammed for the post of deputy mayor. Aaley Mohammed is the son of AAP legislator Shoaib Iqbal.

The party wrested control of the civic body from the BJP on December 7, 2022, ending its 15-year rule. The high-stakes election to the 250 wards of the unified civic body was held on December 4, in which AAP bagged 134 municipal wards, BJP 104, and Congress nine.

To elect Delhi’s First Citizen, the electoral college comprised 250 elected municipal councillors, 14 MLAs and 10 parliamentarians of Delhi.

The AAP, which is leading the Delhi government, had the support of 150 councillors while BJP had the backing of 113 councillors.