North civic body comes to life, Meera Aggarwal is Mayor

Reporting from the corporation's inaugural sitting, The Indian Express's Pragya Kaushika captured a house that came to life noisily on 30 April 2012. As the newly elected councillors of the North corporation, one of the three civic agencies carved out of the undivided MCD, swore to remain true to the public, Congress members arrived with placards and slogans, and Presiding Officer Rajni Abbi at one point had to warn a councillor she could disqualify him unless he withdrew his remarks and took the oath afresh.

The dispatch paused on the confidence of the house's first-time women councillors before recording that the election of the Standing Committee finally brought the verbal war to an end. Of seven nominees, the BSP's candidate withdrew, leaving six to be elected without opposition: Yogendra Chandolia, V. P. Pandey, Surinder Kaur and Hoor Bano of the BJP, with Mukesh Goyal and Prithvi Raj Rathore of the Congress. Azad Singh, brother of former Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma, was elected Deputy Mayor.

When the newly elected Mayor Mira Aggarwal rose to speak, she echoed the Leader of Opposition's development concerns and appealed for cooperation across the aisle to make the corporation financially viable and strong, pointing out that the North had inherited the largest share of Delhi's civic-run medical facilities and schools, and that they needed an upgrade.