Delhi mayor election to be held on February 22

Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has agreed to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's proposal to hold the Delhi mayor elections on February 22, Wednesday. As per the order issued by the Lieutenant Governor, elections for the mayor, deputy mayor, and six members of the standing committee will be held on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had shot a letter to the Lieutenant Governor requesting that the polls for the mayor be held on February 22. The development comes a day after the Supreme Court ordered the issuance of a notice within 24 hours for convening the first meeting of the municipal corporation to fix the date of the election for mayor. A plea was filed by AAP's mayoral candidate, Shelly Oberoi, seeking the early conduct of the election.

According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, the Municipal House has to meet within a month after the conclusion of the civic polls and elect the mayor. However, the elections for mayor in the national capital have been stalled thrice even though the civic polls concluded on December 4.

On January 6, when the MCD house had convened for the first time after the civic polls, it had to be adjourned following acrimonious exchanges between members of the BJP and the AAP. 

The second municipal House, held on January 24, was briefly adjourned after the oath-taking ceremony and was later adjourned till the next date by the presiding officer. The third session, too, was adjourned by the pro-tem presiding officer and BJP councilor Satya Sharma.

On December 4, the AAP ended the BJP's 15-year rule of the civic body by winning in 134 out of the 250 wards of the unified municipal corporation. The BJP won 104 wards to finish second, while the Congress won nine seats.