As the nation’s capital and also among one of the world’s most famous and prestigious metropolis, Delhi’s image is being besmirched by the unseemly conduct of the recently elected municipal councillors. The newly elected members especially from the AAP and the BJP have taken their rivalry beyond reasonable limits as pushing and shouting inside the MCF hall continue to disrupt the functioning of the house. Election to the Municipal Council of Delhi(MCD) was held on December 4,2022 to elect 250 councils of the newly unified MCD comprising of NDMC, SDMC and EDMC. All there were merged into a single body on March 22,2022 and the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi(MCD) formally came into existence on March 22,2022. The Delhi State Election Commission(SEC) announced the results on December 7,2022 in which , the AAP won 134 seats, BJP bagged 104, Congress got nine and the Independents secured victory in three wards. The election of the MCD Mayor had to be postponed thrice as the BJP did everything to prevent the eventual election of the AAP Mayoral candidate. The electoral college for the mayor comprises 250 elected councillors, seven Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha MPs from Delhi and 14 MLAs. The Delhi Assembly Speaker nominated 13 AAP MLAs and a BJP member to the civic body. In order to put up a fight for the Mayor’s seat, the BJP appointed lieutenant governor V.K.Saxena nominated ten members to the MCD. However, AAP objected to move of the Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena in naming the 10 nominees without consulting the Delhi government. The AAP had raised objection against oath-taking by the ten nominated aldermen and the question of their voting. This had stalled Mayor election thrice. If the nominated members were allowed to vote, the strength of the BJP would have gone up to 123 from 113. AAP has 150 votes in the 274-member house, where the majority mark stands at 138. AAP candidate Shelly Oberoi then approached the Supreme Court, questioning the BJP’s contention that the ten members nominated by the Lieutenant Governor – are allowed to vote in the election. A bench led by Chief Justice of Supreme Courtr of India DY Chandrachud ruled that nominated members cannot vote in the election. “Nominated members cannot go for election. The constitutional provision is very clear,” the bench observed. The election was postponed the Fourth time to accommodate the Supreme Court hearing. The fourth attempt to choose Delhi’s new mayor turned out successful as voting concluded on February 22 when. This comes after three previous failed attempts. Shelly Oberoi of the Aam Aadmi Party won the Mayoral post defeating BJP’s Rekha Gupta by 34 votes out of 266 votes cast. APP also won the deputy Mayor’s post when its candidate Aaley Mohammad Iqbal defeated the BJP’s Kaml Bagri by a margin of 31 votes. The election has not ended the ‘war’ between AAP and BJP since Standing Committees are to be formed. While the mayor and deputy mayor are the nominal heads of the civic body, it is the Standing Committee which has executive powers. Much is expected of the AAP to fulfil its pledge to ensure the newly merged MCD works. If it does, then what is important is that while Delhites will be the most benefitted lot, the nation will also earn good name for a cleaner city with improved amenities.
Launched on December 3, 1990. Nagaland Post is the first and highest circulated newspaper of Nagaland state. Nagaland Post is also the first newspaper in Nagaland to be published in multi-colour.