The capital city has given a clear mandate to the Aam Aadmi Party to run the largest urban civic body, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. As the AAP has not been in power in the corporation ever since the party's launch 10 years ago, it will not be a cakewalk for it to run the MCD.

The whole campaign strategy of the AAP was centered on ridding Delhi of its three garbage mountains and making the MCD corruption free. As the results show, Delhi gave the mandate, though not a landslide, to the AAP on sanitation and corruption issues. The MCD was ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the last 15 years and the issue of corruption echoed prominently in the campaign.

The AAP got 134 wards, while the main opposition BJP got 104 wards. The Congress clinched 9 seats out of total 250 wards. With the clear majority, the AAP is all set to take over the reigns of the MCD from the BJP.

After the reunification of the MCD, it has been divided into 12 zones for smooth functioning. Out of the total 12 zones, the AAP will have control over 7 zones, while the BJP will control 4 zones and the Congress councillors will play a key role in one zone. A zone is governed by the Ward Committee that later elects members for the standing committee which has a crucial role in the administrative and financial decisions of the corporation.

The AAP-ruled MCD will have to face challenges while fulfilling the promises made during the campaign. The BJP which also has councillors near to the majority mark will not make the task easier for it.

The other challenge for the AAP is the selection of a mayor for the MCD. As the mayor is elected at the first meeting of the financial year mostly in April, the AAP needs to think whether it will elect a mayor for the remaining three months of the financial year or will wait to start the next financial year.

The MCD election that was scheduled for March was delayed by eight months because of the unification of the three MCDs. If the AAP decides to elect a mayor now, the party will have to approach the Centre to change the schedule of the party's first meeting and the appointment of the mayor from April to December now.

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As the Delhi government and the MCD have always locked horns over the unavailability of funds, the issue of financial assistance may also rise between the BJP at the Centre and the AAP.

During the campaign, AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had accused the BJP of making a false promise in the last civic election that it would get money directly from the Centre. Not a single rupee had come in the past five years, Kejriwal had claimed.

"They claimed during the last election that Kejriwal doesn't fund the Municipal Corporation of Delhi properly and they will now ask for funds from the Centre. It has been five years. The central government and MCD were run by the same party. Yet, the Centre did not give them a single naya' paisa to run the corporation," Kejriwal had said.

On the question of fund management, he had said that arranging money would be his responsibility. The Centre had been holding on to the funds meant for the Delhi government but the work never stopped. We do not stop our work just because the funds from the Centre have not come, he had said.

BJP eyes mayoral election, vows to keep exposing AAP's 'corruption' in MCD

The Bharatiya Janata Party has been levelling accusations against the Aam Aadmi Party, be it any scam, corruption or failure when it was the governing party in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and in the opposition in the Delhi government. Now, even after losing the MCD polls, the BJP plans to continue to expose the AAP and its alleged corruption as the opposition in the civic body.

The AAP on Wednesday dislodged the BJP from power in the MCD, giving it control over key civic sectors in the city such as waste management, primary education and collection of property tax.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta opened up about the defeat in the MCD polls and said the "BJP will serve the people of Delhi by becoming a strong opposition and will expose the corruption of the Aam Aadmi Party in the corporation just like the huge corruption done by the AAP in the Delhi government".

Expressing gratitude to Delhiites he said, "BJP expresses gratitude to all the voters of Delhi including BJP workers for 40 per cent voter turnout received by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the municipal elections. At the same time, the BJP promises that in the corporation too, it will strongly raise the questions and problems related to the people of Delhi and will try its best to fulfil them." Gupta also thanked the Delhi Police and the Election Commission.

Gupta said the "people of Delhi have given us an almost 40% vote share along with 104 wards and responsibility as a strong opposition. We will constructively keep raising the issues of the general public".

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal won and the BJP lost in the MCD polls. But the significant point is that Kejriwal's top ministers lost most of the wards in their constituencies.

The BJP is still keeping its hopes high of having a mayor from their party as the mayor is elected by the councillors.

With the Anti-Defection Act not applicable in municipal polls, the chances of last minute changes in which party is able to stake claim to the seat of the mayor are high.

A mayor is usually nominated by the party which has the highest number of councillors. Only if the opposition puts up a candidate are elections mandated. Since the AAP's victory has not been a sweep, the chances of elected councillors switching parties becomes high.

Apart from the elected councillors, 10 Delhi MPs (of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha) and 14 MLAs, to be selected by the Assembly Speaker, are eligible to vote in the mayoral election.

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The BJP's Amit Malviya referred to the Chandigarh municipal body. Though the AAP had emerged as the single largest party by winning 14 seats in the Chandigarh municipal elections for 35 wards, but it had not won a majority.

"Over to electing a mayor for Delhi It will all depend on who can hold the numbers in a close contest, which way the nominated councillors vote etc" Malviya tweeted.

When asked who the BJP will field as its mayoral candidate, a party leader said, "It is too early to talk about this. Our party leadership will decide. Today is a victory day, let's celebrate."

Kejriwal in his victory speech said let's improve the condition of Delhi. He also sought the cooperation of the BJP and the Congress as well as the "blessings" of the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve civic amenities in the national capital.

In MCD's first year, Delhi's mayor to be a woman; here's how she'll be elected

The results of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections have been declared with the Aam Aadmi Party registering a victory.

Now the tug of war between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the AAP has intensified for the post of Mayor.

The BJP even after being defeated has claimed that the Mayor will be from them. At the same time, the AAP is also appearing confident about grabbing the post.

The thing to note here is that the party that wins in the polls is not a deciding factor for the Mayor's post. MCD rules state that the Mayor has to be elected by the councillors.

This rule, among others is the reason behind the saffron party staking its claim for the post confidently.

The party succeeded in making its councillor the Mayor of Chandigarh despite losing in the city's municipal corporation elections.

According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, it is mandatory to have a female Mayor in the first year of the term, as the post is reserved for women councillors.

Apart from this, the post has been reserved for a councillor from the Scheduled Caste in the third year while the post is unreserved for the remaining 3 years, allowing any councillor to contest in the elections.

Delhi had an integrated MCD in 2011, when the BJP's Rajni Abbi held the Mayor's post.

According to the DMC Act, at the first meeting of the House after the elections, is when the process of polls for the Mayor's post is initiated.

The process starts with nominations, proceeds to voting by the councillors and ends with the Mayor being elected.

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The tenure of councillors in the capital is for 5 years, whereas the Mayor's term is for a year only due to which councillors elect a new Mayor every year.

The 250 winning councillors, 7 Lok Sabha MPs and 3 Rajya Sabha MPs will vote in the elections for the Mayor's post. Apart from this, 14 MLAs nominated by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly will also vote which is why it is mandatory to get 138 votes to win.

According to Section 53 of the DMC Act, the Mayor is elected in the first meeting of the financial year in April. This year, the polls which were to be held in March, were postponed after the Centre announced the corporations' integration.

According to the rules, the MCD Commissioner will now write to the LG through the Chief Secretary to call a meeting and to appoint a presiding officer for the Mayor's election. The LG will approve it after getting the go ahead from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Under Section 514A of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, a special officer may be appointed by the Centre to look after the Mayor's responsibilities and functions until he is elected.

In May, 2022, the Central government appointed IAS officer Ashwani Kumar as the special officer for the integrated MCD.

The AAP, being a big party, is faced with the question of whether it would hold elections for the Mayor in view of only 3 months being left of the financial year, 2022-23.

If the party decides to do so, they would have to request the Centre to schedule the party's first meeting and the swearing-in ceremony, including the appointment of a mayor, in December this year instead of April, 2023.

The anti-defection law does not apply in the Mayor's polls, so if a councillor votes for the opposing party's candidate, they would not be removed from the post.

It would be difficult to know the identity of such a councillor which is the reason behind the AAP alleging that the BJP had been trying to buy their councillors after the declaration of results.