Mayoral polls in Delhi by month-end, SDMC's on April 26

Mayoral polls in the three BJP-controlled municipal corporations in Delhi are slated to be held by the end of this month, officials said Sunday.

"The elections for the posts of mayor, deputy mayor and three members of the standing committee of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation will be held on April 26," a senior SDMC official said.

The last date to submit nominations is April 18, he said. Mayoral polls in East and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC and NDMC) would be both held on April 29.

The notification for elections of mayor and deputy mayor of the NDMC was issued a few days ago, a senior NDMC official said.

"This year, as per the rotation basis, the mayoral seat is reserved for the SC category," he said.

The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act provides for election of mayor and deputy mayor from among the councillors of the corporations in the first meeting of the House every year.

The mayors and deputy mayors get a year-long term in the cities of Union Territories.

The erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was trifurcated into North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations in 2012.

The BJP has been ruling the civic bodies for the past 10 years. The mayoral five-year tenure sees five single-year terms on a rotation basis, with the first year being reserved for women, the second open category, third for reserved category, and the remaining two also being in open category.

Last year, the polls were held in the open category. The incumbent mayors for the three corporations are Adesh Gupta (NDMC), Narender Chawla (SDMC) and Bipin Bihari Singh (EDMC).