On February 17, the Supreme Court of India provided a significant relief for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by ruling that members nominated by the Lieutenant Governor cannot vote in the election for the post of Delhi MCD mayor. Additionally, the apex court directed a notice to be issued for convening the first MCD meeting for elections within 24 hours.

The mayoral election had been a contentious issue between the AAP, which emerged victorious in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi election held in December, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The election had been postponed thrice in the last few months due to chaos inside the Civic Centre, which serves as the headquarters of MCD. The AAP accused the BJP of engaging in a “planned conspiracy” to stall the process and asserted that the mayoral poll could not be held because the BJP was “strangulating democracy and the Constitution of India.”

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hailed the Supreme Court’s order as a “victory of democracy,” and expressed gratitude to the court. He stated that Delhi would now have a mayor after two and a half months, and that the order proves how the LG and BJP are passing illegal and unconstitutional orders in Delhi.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="hi" dir="ltr">SC का आदेश जनतंत्र की जीत। SC का बहुत बहुत शुक्रिया। ढाई महीने बाद अब दिल्ली को मेयर मिलेगा। <br><br>ये साबित हो गया कि LG और बीजेपी मिलकर आये दिन दिल्ली में कैसे ग़ैरक़ानूनी और असंवैधानिक आदेश पारित कर रहे हैं</p>— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArvindKejriwal/status/1626540692129599491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Following the December MCD polls, the House convened for the first time on January 6 but was adjourned due to heated exchanges between BJP and AAP members. The second meeting on January 24 was briefly adjourned after the oath-taking ceremony before being adjourned again by the protem presiding officer. The House was adjourned for the third time on February 13 after a dispute over the decision to allow aldermen to vote in the mayoral poll, which led to a ruckus.

The AAP emerged as the clear winner in the December polls, winning 134 seats and ending the BJP’s 15-year rule in the civic body. The BJP won 104 wards, while the Congress won nine in the 250-member House.

The civic body in Delhi was trifurcated into north, east, and south corporations in 2012 before being reunified into a sole MCD last May.