After the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) attained a thumping majority in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) election, the process to appoint the new Mayor is all set to begin. The AAP bagged 134 wards while the BJP got 109 and the Congress got 9 wards in the civic polls held on December 4.
The MCD came into existence on April 7, 1958, under an Act of Parliament. Prior to that Delhi Municipal Committee (DMC) was the principal civic body of Delhi. Guru Radha Kishan served for the longest consecutive period as a councillor of the MCD. The first elected mayor of Delhi was Pt. Trilok Chand Sharma.
According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, it is mandatory for the local urban body to hold elections every five years to determine which party is in majority to continue holding power. The Section 35 of the Act mandates that the civic body must elect a mayor at its first meeting of each financial year.
However, the party with clear majority in the House may nominate the name of councillor for the post of Mayor. But, if an opposition party opposes the decision and nominates own candidate, the election will be held. If there’s only one candidate from the party in power, they will be appointed the mayor. In case of an election, the candidate with the most votes will be elected mayor.
The MCD Act also mandates that the civic body should elect a woman as mayor in its first year and an elected councillor from the Scheduled Caste in its third year.
The separate nominations are made for the election of the mayor if other parties are not satisfied with the nominated name for the mayor by the ruling party. The voting for the mayor is done through a secret ballot. The Lt. Governor nominates the presiding officer for the election of the mayor. As the anti-defection law is not applicable in the civic body polls, any councilor can vote for any candidate.
However, in the case of tie between the parties, the presiding officer appointed to oversee the election conducts a special draw of lots and the candidate whose name is drawn will be the mayor.
