Delhi’s new mayor alleges attack by BJP councillors

Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Wednesday alleged that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors attacked her while she was conducting the Standing Committee elections.

“BJP Councillors just tried to attack me while I was conducting the Standing Committee elections, as per Supreme Court orders! This is the extent of BJP’s Gundagardi that they are trying to attack a woman Mayor,” Oberoi tweeted.

Reacting to her tweet, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said this is “absolutely shocking and unacceptable”.

Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said the BJP, which has lost the election of mayor and deputy mayor, is now resorting to hooliganism in the standing committee elections. “They have stopped the election of committee members for many hours and now BJP councillors in the house have attacked the newly appointed mayor,” he said.

A ruckus ensued between BJP and AAP members inside the MCD house over the election of member of the standing committee late Wednesday night.

Four attempts and a Supreme Court order later, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elected its new mayor as AAP candidate Shelly Oberoi emerged victorious on Wednesday. The first single mayor to be elected to the reunified civic body after 10 years, she received 150 votes against 116 of the BJP’s Rekha Gupta.

A first-time councillor, 39-year-old Oberoi was a former visiting faculty member at Delhi University who won from BJP stronghold East Patel Nagar during the civic polls in December last year. She defeated the BJP’s Deepali Kumar by 269 votes in the ward, which was the home turf of former Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta.

Oberoi joined the AAP in 2013 and was appointed Delhi unit vice-president of the Mahila Morcha two years ago. A resident of Patel Nagar, the new mayor was born and brought up in the national capital.