Shelly becomes mayor unopposed, BJP's Rai withdraws

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party's Shelly Oberoi was on Wednesday re-elected Delhi mayor without contest after her rival Shikha Rai withdrew her nomination, with the AAP claiming that the BJP city unit brought "humiliation" to the entire party by surrendering in the poll. AAP MLA and the party's in-charge of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Durgesh Pathak, claimed that the BJP and its councillors "surrendered in front of (Arvind) Kejriwal's AAP" and gave a "walkover" to the party. The Delhi BJP, however, said it had decided to withdraw the nominations as "despite our best efforts, the AAP is not ready to make MCD functional by allowing the formation of the standing committee and the ward committees".

Incumbent Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal also got another term at the post as BJP candidate Soni Pal withdrew her nomination. The AAP, the ruling party in the MCD, claimed that BJP candidates -- Rai and Pal -- withdrew their nominations "minutes before voting, fearing defeat". The mayoral election in Delhi was supposed to be a direct contest between Oberoi and Rai, but the withdrawal of nomination by the BJP candidate resulted in the House proceedings ending after a short duration. The proceedings began around 11 am with senior AAP leader Mukesh Goyal as the pro tem presiding officer.

Soon after, Rai told the House that she took the step of withdrawing her nomination because the election to the standing committee -- the apex decision-making body of the MCD -- has not been conducted. As soon as Oberoi became the mayor, a few members of the House raised 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Kejriwal Zindabad' slogans. AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal tweeted, "Congratulations Shelly and Aaley on again becoming mayor and deputy mayor, this time unopposed. Best wishes to both. People have huge expectations from us. Work hard to meet their expectations."

At a press conference held at the Civic Centre -- the headquarters of the MCD -- after the House proceedings ended, Pathak claimed that the BJP and its councillors "surrendered in front of Kejriwal's AAP". "For the first time, (Narendra) Modi's BJP surrendered in front of the AAP. They did not even have the energy to fight mayor or deputy mayor elections," he claimed, adding that the BJP had "insulted" Goyal two months ago, who today was the presiding officer in the House.

He claimed that the BJP knew it "didn't have the numbers" and alleged that there was a possibility that many councillors of the BJP, "who believe in democracy and are against hooliganism, could vote in favour of the AAP".