DNA Explainer: How is Delhi MCD Mayor Election conducted? Know why BJP, AAP are at war

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the Delhi MCD elections 2022 with a whopping majority, ending the reign of power of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), which had been ruling over the Delhi MCD for 15 years. Now comes the turn of electing a mayor of Delhi.

Even though the BJP lost the MCD elections 2022 in Delhi with around 104 out of the total 250 seats, it has been said that the mayor of Delhi can be from BJP or from AAP. The process of electing a mayor in Delhi doesn’t depend on the people of the capital directly, but on the members of the Delhi MCD.

Here is how the Delhi MCD Mayor Election is conducted

The people of Delhi don’t directly cast a vote when it comes to electing a mayor in the national capital, but the votes are cast by the members of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, known as the councilors. There are a total of 250 councilors in Delhi MCD.

While the councilors are selected by the residents of Delhi through a direct vote, they then further cast a vote to elect a Delhi MCD Mayor from among themselves. The total term of a Delhi MCD Mayor is one year, and they are elected at the beginning of the financial year.

Section 35 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act states that the corporation must elect a mayor at the start of each financial year at its first meeting of the year. Further, the first mayor at the beginning of each party’s term must be a woman, as per the rules.

Delhi MCD Mayor Elections spark political row between AAP and BJP

A major political drama broke out between the Bhartiya Janta Party and the Aam Aadmi Party during the swearing-in ceremony of the councilors of the Delhi MCD, in which the aldermen (those who traditionally cannot vote) to the civic body were invited to take the oath.

Amid chaos and clash between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party councilors at the Civic Center on Friday, the MCD House was adjourned even before the commencement of voting for mayoral polls.

Councilors from both parties clashed and then took to protests with sloganeering against each other ahead of the Delhi Mayor polls. Marshals had to make their presence felt as several councilors were injured in the process.

BJP has claimed that its councilors Inder Kaur, Anita Deoli, and Kamaljeet Sherawat sustained injuries during the protest while AAP took to social media to list its injured.

(With inputs from agencies)

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