Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 18th November 2024 | Current Affairs & General Knowledge - CLAT PDF Download

Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
The AAP’s Mahesh Khichi was elected as the new Mayor of Delhi on Thursday, marking a significant victory for the ruling party in the Capital ahead of the Assembly polls due early next year.
The elections were held after a delay of nearly eight months with this being the third attempt at the mayoral polls this year. While both the mayoral and deputy mayoral posts were reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Caste category this time, due to multiple delays in the election process, their terms will only last four months.
Khichi (45), a first-time councillor from Dev Nagar, defeated BJP’s Shakurpur councillor Kishan Lal by only three votes, receiving 133 votes to the latter’s 130. Two votes were declared invalid – one each from AAP and BJP. A total of 256 votes were cast for the Mayor’s post.
Following its defeat in the mayoral poll contest, the BJP withdrew its candidate, Sadatpur councillor Neeta Bisht, from the race for deputy mayor, clearing the way for the AAP’s Ravinder Bhardwaj (32), councillor from Aman Vihar, to secure the position unopposed.
The proceedings took an unexpected turn when Congress leaders staged a walkout from the House. It boycotted the voting while calling for a full term for the Mayor. “We want the Dalit mayor to get a full tenure instead of just four months,” a party councillor said.
The seven Congress councillors did not participate in the voting and its councillor from Mustafabad, Sabila Begum, resigned from the party and voted for the AAP.
In her resignation letter, she criticised the Congress for boycotting the elections. Begum said that she could not “support the BJP by abstaining from the vote”. Notably, this was not her first resignation; she had left the Congress in December 2022 as well, shortly after being elected as a councillor.
The rest of the proceedings unfolded without disruptions.
After his victory was announced, Khichi said, “I would like to thank all councillors for supporting me. I am grateful to our former chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) and the party leadership for making a less known councillor like me the Mayor of Delhi. I assure everyone that we will work together for the development of Delhi.”
Khichi, a 1999-batch BCom passout from the Motilal Nehru College, is a financial advisor by profession.
According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, the MCD must elect a new mayor and deputy mayor each year in April. However, two key hurdles contributed to delay in holding the polls – the imposition of the model code of conduct (MCC) for the Lok Sabha polls and non-appointment of a presiding officer by Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V K Saxena.
Although the Election Commission had permitted the polls to proceed despite MCC being in force, the elections were stalled when the L-G refused to appoint a presiding officer, citing the absence of recommendations from then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was in jail at the time.
A second attempt was made last month when outgoing mayor Shelly Oberoi received a request from the municipal secretary to set a poll date in October. The request languished in her office for a week before Oberoi announced that the elections would be postponed to November, citing upcoming Diwali and the likelihood of councillors being unavailable.
[Excerpt from The Indian Express "AAP’s Mahesh Khinchi Elected Delhi’s New Mayor" Dated 18/11/24]

Q1: Who was elected as the new Mayor of Delhi in 2024?
(a) Kishan Lal
(b) Mahesh Khichi
(c) V K Saxena
(d) Manish Sisodia

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Q2: Which political party does Mahesh Khichi belong to?
(a) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
(b) Indian National Congress (INC)
(c) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
(d) Samajwadi Party (SP)

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Q3: How many votes did Mahesh Khichi receive in the mayoral election?
(a) 133
(b) 130
(c) 256
(d) 135

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Q4: What was the margin of victory in the mayoral election?
(a) 5 votes
(b) 2 votes
(c) 3 votes
(d) 7 votes

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Q5: What delayed the mayoral elections in 2024?
(a) Disputes over voter eligibility
(b) Imposition of the model code of conduct and lack of a presiding officer
(c) Natural disasters in Delhi
(d) Changes in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act

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