NEW DELHI: Incumbent Mayor Shelly Oberoi and Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal are all set to win their second term in the office in the upcoming mayoral polls. If they emerge victorious it will be the second term consequently for the power duo in the last 15 years.
Between 2012 and 2022, when the MCD remained trifurcated, it gave Delhi 30 mayors and 30 Deputy Mayors. Since 2007, when the MCD was a unified body, only Aarti Mehra and Divya Jaiswal, both from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have been able to take charge as mayor and Deputy.
The mayoral polls happen every year. According to the Delhi Municipal Act, the term of a Mayor gets over on March 31 and a new House is formed after fresh polls. In the five years of power, the first year is reserved for a woman mayoral candidate, the third term is reserved for a member of the SC/ST community.
During the remaining three years, any member can be nominated by a party. In 2007, when BJP came to power after defeating Congress, it elected Mehra as the Mayor but Savindrajit Singh Bajwa became the Deputy Mayor. Following Bajwas death, reelection for the post of Deputy Mayor was conducted and Jaiswal scored a victory in it. He repeated his win in the consecutive poll for the 2008 Mayoral election and completed his term. Mehra was also elected again
Mehra remained in power as Delhi's Mayor for two years from 2007 to 2009. Jaiswal, however, was elected twice but had consecutive tenure of 18 months. Meanwhile, sources said that Oberoi and Iqbal will not face difficulty in winning the election as the AAP has a majority in the House.