Sanitation, education and health would be the focus areas for the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), said Preeti Aggarwal, after being elected as the new mayor of the civic body today.
Aggarwal, a first-time BJP councillor, who represents Rohini-F ward (No 57-N), asserted that the party would work with the Opposition to "make the image of NDMC more positive".
"I have a three-point formula in mind -- Swachhta, Shiksha aur Swasthya (sanitation, education and health). And, our job would be to fulfil the dreams of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sanitation would be my top priority," she told reporters soon after assuming charge.
Sanitation is a major governance issue in Delhi and the BJP, which has been ruling the MCD for the last 10 years, has faced criticism from residents and opposition parties for "lack of cleanliness" in the city.
The Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress have continuously attacked the BJP-led corporations, alleging that the three civic bodies have turned the city into a "mound of garbage".
The three civic bodies had faired poorly in the Swachh Bharat survey which was released recently by the Centre.
She was elected unopposed as the mayor of north Delhi and the new team of the area's civic body also took charge.
Besides, Vijay Kumar Bhagat was also chosen unopposed as the deputy mayor as no other party had filed nominations for the two posts.
In the high-stakes MCD polls held on April 23, the BJP had fielded all fresh faces to counter "anti-incumbency".
After the polls, the saffron party's strength in the 104 -member New Delhi Municipal Corporation House is 64, while AAP has 21 and Congress 15 councillors. The BSP has one member, while two had won the election independent candidates.
The post of mayor sees five single-year terms on a rotation basis, with the first year being reserved for women, the second for open category, third for reserved category, and the remaining two also being in the open category.
In the polls, Aggarwal had defeated AAP's Abhinav Mishra in the elections by a margin of 5,413 votes. She had bagged 11,723 votes, while Mishra finished second with 6,310.
Incidentally, last year too, Sanjiv Nayyar was unanimously elected the mayor on April 28.
The erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated in 2012 into the NDMC, the SDMC and the EDMC. The first MCD polls after the trifurcation was held the same year.
The BJP had bagged 181 of the 270 wards in the civic polls.
Delhi has a total of 272 wards -- NDMC (104 wards), SDMC (104) and EDMC (64).
While election to Maujpur ward in east Delhi was held on May 14, Sarai Pipal in north Delhi will go to polls on May 21. Elections in these two wards were postponed due to death of candidates.
Six members of the Standing Committee were also elected today.
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