Delhi mayoral polls: Focus on officer to head meeting

As the Delhi mayoral elections draw closer, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday initiated the process of appointing a presiding officer for the April 26 session in which the House will elect the mayor and the deputy mayor, officials aware of the matter said on Thursday.

A senior municipal official said that the file on the matter was sent to the urban development department of the Delhi government, which will forward it to the chief minister after which the lieutenant governor’s secretariat will take a final call. An official of the lieutenant governor’s (LG) office said they were yet to receive the file.

The appointment of the presiding officer became a point of contention between LG VK Saxena and the Delhi government during the last elections held in February.

The Aam Aadmi Party first objected to the appointment of Satya Sharma, a BJP councillor, to preside over the first House meeting, and said the LG should have chosen the senior-most councillor (AAP’s Mukesh Goel) instead.

Later, the AAP, which has a clear majority in the House, also protested Sharma’s decision to allow LG nominated-aldermen to take oath before the elected councillors.

The party even approached the Supreme Court to challenge Sharma’s ruling to allow aldermen to vote during the mayoral polls, and the apex court overturned the presiding officer’s ruling.

A senior municipal official, requesting anonymity, said that the corporation has not recommended any councillor’s name this time to avoid controversy.

“The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act says that candidates cannot be presiding officers. We have given the names of four candidates – Shelly Oberoi from east Patel Nagar, Aaley Iqbal from Chandani Mahal, Shikha Rai from Greater Kailash, and Soni Pandey from Sonia Vihar and attached the list of the remaining 246 councillors. The process will now be taken up by the urban development department,” the official said.

A second municipal official said that, usually, the outgoing mayor or a senior councillor is nominated as presiding officer. “However, Oberoi cannot preside over the meeting since she is a contender. It is the LG’s prerogative in the end. In 2021, the outgoing mayor, Jai Prakash was not appointed the presiding officer,” the official said.

The powers of the presiding officer come to an end with the election of the mayor. The newly elected mayor then presides over the election of the deputy mayor.

MCD is yet to hold elections to the standing committee as the matter is tuck in litigation with the Delhi high court expected to hear the matter on April 24.

The first official said the notices announcing the names of candidates was sent to members of the electoral college, and the final notice for the meeting will be sent 72 hours prior to the session.

“The presiding officer’s name should be finalised in the next couple of days,” the official added.