Aam Aadmi Party leader (AAP) Shelly Oberoi was unanimously elected mayor of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rival Shikha Rai withdrew her nomination.

Shikha Rai told the House that she took the step because the election to the standing committee has not been conducted.

BJP candidate for Deputy Mayor elections also withdrew her candidature, paving the pay for incumbent Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal to get another term at the post.

The mayoral election in Delhi was supposed to be a direct contest between incumbent Oberoi and Rai. The AAP is the ruling party in the MCD.

Oberoi was elected Delhi mayor for the first time on February 22 in the fourth attempt since the earlier mayoral polls were stalled amid a ruckus over voting rights being given to nominated members.

Oberoi had defeated BJP's Rekha Gupta by a margin of 34 votes by polling 150 votes. Gupta got 116 of the total 266 votes polled.

The mayoral election were held again on Wednesday as the MCD elects a new mayor after the end of every financial year.

The post of mayor in Delhi sees five single-year terms on a rotational basis with the first year reserved for women, the second for the open category, the third for the reserved category and the remaining two again for the open category.

First Published:Apr 26, 2023 12:32 PM IST