No Delhi mayor polls again as big change in voting sparks protest
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House meeting to elect the city mayor was adjourned for the third time on Monday after a huge protest by AAP members against the Delhi LG’s move to allow 10 councillors nominated by him to vote in mayoral polls.
The move is being seen as a setback for Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP. The MCD House has been adjourned till further notice in the aftermath of the massive uproar over the issue.
While AAP may still win the mayoral polls given its numbers, its situation will be precarious over the election of the standing committee, which is understood to be the MCD’s most powerful body. Six of the 18-member standing committee will be elected on Monday. While AAP will win three seats and the BJP two, the actual fight will be for the sixth seat, which may go to the BJP if the nominated members vote. The other 12 standing committee members will be chosen through zonal elections.
Watch: Delhi mayoral election riddle: Who’s right? AAP or BJP?
AAP govt resented LG move on aldermen
Earlier, AAP had objected to LG VK Saxena naming the 10 nominated members (aldermen) without holding consultation with the state government. It had also resented the LG’s decision to appoint of Satya Sharma as presiding officer of the civic body, while recommending Mukesh Goyal, the senior-most councillor in the House, for the post.
Oath-taking by the 10 nominated aldermen and the question of their voting had earlier also stalled mayoral election twice — January 6 and January 24. It had led to a ruckus and acrimonious exchanges between the members of the BJP and the AAP.
The matter had even reached the Supreme Court, where AAP sought a time-bound election and orders that the aldermen not be allowed to vote. AAP’s Mayor candidate Dr Shelley Oberoi, however, withdrew the petition after the court pointed out that the election was due on February 6 and a detailed hearing will stall it again.
No mayor even two months after MCD polls
According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to be elected in the very first session of the House that convenes after the civic polls. However, it has been two months since the municipal elections were held and Delhi is yet to get a mayor. While the first session of the 250-member House went in vain, the nominated members and elected members took oath in the second session.
Also read: Delhi mayor election deferred after BJP-AAP clash at municipal corp meet
After the oath-taking exercise, the second session was adjourned till the next date by presiding officer and BJP councillor Satya Sharma. While BJP members had walked out of the chamber shouting slogans against the AAP and its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, the ruling party members refused to budge from their seats and held a peaceful protest in the House for nearly five hours.
The AAP had emerged as a clear winner in Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls, bagging 134 wards and ending the BJPs 15-year rule in the civic body. The BJP won 104 wards to finish second, while the Congress won nine seats.
Rekha Gupta is the BJP’s mayoral candidate. The nominees for the post of deputy mayor are — Aaley Mohammad Iqbal (AAP) and Kamal Bagri (BJP). Besides mayor and deputy mayor, six members of the MCD standing committee are also slated to be elected during the session.
