AAP’s Shelly Oberoi re-elected Delhi mayor

Shelly Oberoi of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was re-elected as the Mayor of Delhi on Wednesday as her only rival, Shikha Rai of the BJP, withdrew her nomination.

Similarly, incumbent Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal also secured another term, as the BJP candidate Soni Pal also withdrew her nomination, leaving Iqbal as the sole candidate.

The elections were originally supposed to be a direct contest between Oberoi and Rai, but Rai cited the absence of an election to the standing committee as her reason for withdrawal.

Oberoi had previously been elected as the Delhi mayor on February 22, 2022, after three earlier elections were stalled due to controversy over voting rights for nominated members.

She had defeated Rekha Gupta of the BJP by polling 150 votes compared to Gupta’s 116 out of a total of 266 votes cast.

The mayoral post in Delhi is rotated every year between five single-year terms, with the first year reserved for women, the second for the open category, the third for the reserved category, and the final two for the open category. A new mayor is appointed after the end of each financial year.

As the ruling party in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the AAP will continue to hold the mayoral post for another year. (With inputs from PTI)