Elected mayor of Delhi Corporation’s term may last three months

NEW DELHI: The office term of the elected mayor for the first year of the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will end before 3 months of assuming the chair, if the impending civic polls are conducted by December-end or early January. The first mayor post-unification will be a woman.

According to Section 2 (67) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, the year of MCD starts on the first day of April. Besides, there is a provision to elect a woman councillor as mayor in the first year under the DMC Act. The woman councillor will get the opportunity to work as the corporation’s mayor for less than three months, if everything happens accordingly.

“Post polls, it takes at least a month to get results, formation of the house, oath and induction of the councillor. We are expecting the polls to be held by December end or early January. If that happens, the first mayor will get less than 3 months to work,” said Jai Prakash, former mayor of dissolved North MCD. The three civic bodies were reunified by the Centre in May this year, and the exercise for the delimitation of wards was started in July 2022.

The Ministry of Home Affairs on October 17 issued the final gazette notification for the redrawing of municipal wards in the national capital. The SEC on Wednesday appointed nearly 70 returning-cum-scrutinising officers for the 250 municipal wards, setting the wheels in motion for the civic polls. Each officer has a bundle of wards under his jurisdiction. Earlier, there were three civic bodies — North, South, and East Delhi Municipal Corporations--that were reunified as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in May 2022.

Following the delimitation exercise, the number of municipal wards in Delhi now stands at 250, out of which 42 will be reserved for the scheduled caste (SC) category. The SEC announced on Friday that 50 per cent of wards will be reserved for female candidates.