AAP leader Mahesh Khinchi was elected as the new mayor of Delhi on 14th November. In a close contest, the councillor from Dev Nagar in Karol Bagh got 133 votes against 130 votes secured by BJP’s Shakurpur ward councillor Kishan Lal.
Total 265 votes were polled in the elections, of which two were declared “invalid.” Mahesh Khinchi is from the scheduled caste community and he will take over the role from his AAP predecessor Shelly Oberoi.
During the voting that took place at the MCD House, Congress councillor Sabila Begum resigned from the party, saying that she will vote for the AAP candidate. The rest 7 Congress councillors staged a walkout from the house, protesting over the fact that the new mayor’s term ends in April next year.
This is because, as per MCD rules, mayoral elections are held in April each year. Every year a new mayor is elected on a reservation basis during the five-year term of the council. In the first year it is reserved for woman, the second year is for the open category, the third year is for the reserved category, and then again the rest two years are for the open category.
Accordingly, this was the third mayoral election, but it was scheduled to be held in April this year. But due to continuing standoff between AAP and BJP, the polls could not be held, and was finally held on 14 November.
