NEW DELHI — Shelly Oberoi of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the mayoral election on Wednesday, just days after the Supreme Court ruled that nominated members would not be allowed to vote. Oberoi received 150 votes and defeated BJP candidate Rekha Gupta who got 116 votes.
The voting which started at around 11.30 am went on for more than 2 hours. A total of 10 nominated MPs, 14 nominated MLAs and 241 elected councillors out of 250 voted in the mayoral election.
“I assure you all that I will run this House in a constitutional manner. I expect you all will maintain the dignity of the House and cooperate in its smooth functioning,” Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi said as soon as she was elected as the mayor.
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, in a tweet, congratulated all Aam Aadmi Party workers for the victory of Shelly Oberoi in the mayoral election and said ‘goons lost, public won’. He congratulated Shelly Oberoi also for being elected as first AAP mayor.
From DU Professor to Mayor
When 28-year-old Shelly Oberoi joined Aap Aadmi Party (AAP) as an activist in 2013, little did she know that one day she would be heading the Municipal Corporation of Delhi as the Mayor.
Besides earning the distinction of being a lifetime member of the Indian Commerce Association (ICA), Shelly has several awards and accolades to her credit.
Before embarking on a political journey, Oberoi completed her Phd in management studies from IGNOU’s School of Management Studies. Along with Delhi University, she had also taught at several other universities like NMIMS, IP and IGNOU.
Upon joining AAP as an activist, Shelly went on to become the party’s state Mahila Morcha vice-president and continued till 2020.
A councillor from ward no 86 of Patel Nagar constituency, Shelly was named mayoral candidate weeks after the AAP secured the majority in the MCD election.
After three adjourned meetings since the MCD polls results were out, the national capital Delhi on Wednesday got the new mayor.
After Oberoi was announced as the new mayor of MCD, she thanked the people of Delhi, CM Arvind Kejriwal, L-G V.K. Saxena and the leaders and workers of the party.
In her first speech in the MCD House, Oberoi said, “All of you have elected me as the Mayor of Delhi. The people of the national capital have dreamt of making Delhi clean and beautiful, we all have to work together for this. We will run the House as per the Constitution and the DMC Act.”
Making Shelly’s victory more interesting is the fact that she has emerged victorious from a place where BJP turf has a stronghold. A former visiting assistant professor at Delhi University and a first-time councillor, 39-year-old Oberoi contested the elections from former Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta’s home turf of East Patel Nagar and defeated her rival Deepali Kumari by 269 votes.
After being named for the post of mayor, she had said that her priorities will be fulfilling the 10 guarantees promised by the CM and working together with all councillors to shake off the city’s ‘garbage capital’ tag.
Oberoi has become the first mayor of the reunified MCD. Oberoi will now preside over the rest of the polls, including that of the deputy mayor and six members of the powerful standing committee. (With inputs from IANS)
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Photo: Shelly Oberoi celebrates with party MLA Atishi Marlena and others after being elected as the new mayor of Delhi at Civic Centre in New Delhi on Wednesday. — IANS
