After a long wait of over two months, Delhi will get a new mayor today. 5 points

After much delay, Delhi will get its new mayor today as the stage is set for the mayoral poll following a Supreme Court order after three failed attempts by the municipal body to hold the election to the top post in the past. 

After the election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor in Delhi, the election of six members of the Standing Committee is also to be held today. This election is also important because while BJP has fielded three candidates for six posts, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded four candidates. The AAP had emerged as a clear winner in the December 4 polls, bagging 134 wards and ending the BJP's 15-year rule in the civic body. The BJP won 104 wards to finish second, while the Congress won nine seats in the 250-member municipal House. The arithmetic favours the Aam Aadmi Party, which has 150 votes against the BJP's 113, out of a total of 274 votes in the mayoral polls.

Delhi Mayor Election today: 5 points

According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to be elected in the very first session of the House after the civic polls.

A month after the high-stakes municipal polls, the House had convened for the first time on January 6. It had adjourned following acrimonious exchanges between members of the BJP and the AAP.

The second and third meetings called on January 24 and February 6 also failed to carry out the exercise, and were both adjourned without electing a mayor, triggering much political bickering among parties in the two months since the civic polls.

The crisis also impacted the annual budget proceedings and the schedule of taxes for year 2023-24 was passed by the Special Officer of the MCD on February 15, since the deliberative wing has not come into place. According to the norms, the schedule of taxes has to be passed by the House before or on February 15.

The AAP received a shot in the arm after the Supreme Court recently ruled against voting rights given to 10 aldermen by protem mayor and BJP councilor Satya Sharma. The electoral college for the election of mayor comprises the 250 elected councillors, seven Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha MPs from Delhi and 14 MLAs. The Delhi Assembly Speaker has nominated 13 AAP and one BJP member to the House.