Lieutenant Governor of Delhi VK Saxena. file | Photo Credit: PTI
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Saturday approved the proposed date of February 22 to convene the postponed first House meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which will also hold elections to the offices of mayor, deputy mayor and six members of the civic body’s standing committee. ,
The proposed date was recommended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
This comes a day after the Supreme Court ordered the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to issue notice within 24 hours for convening the first meeting to decide the date for election of mayor, deputy mayor and members of the standing committee.
In favor of the ruling AAP, the apex court on Friday also said that the members nominated by the Lieutenant Governor in the MCD cannot vote to elect the mayor.
In a tweet, Kejriwal said, “Recommend to hold the MCD Mayor’s election on February 22.”
As per the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957, the Mayor and Deputy Mayor are to be elected in the very first session of the House after the civic elections. However, it has been more than two months since the municipal elections held on December 4, and Delhi is yet to get a mayor.
The MCD could not elect the mayor on the last three occasions amid ruckus as AAP and BJP councilors clashed over voting rights of nominated members.
The first meeting of the newly elected MCD House was adjourned on January 6 amid clashes between AAP and BJP members.
The AAP, which has a majority in the 250-member House with 134 councillors, alleged that the saffron party was trying to steal its mandate by giving voting rights to nominated members. BJP came second by winning 104 wards.
(With PTI inputs)