After two failed attempts, the Delhi municipal House is set to convene on Monday to elect a mayor for the city. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday wrote a letter to the MCD’s presiding officer seeking debarment of aldermen from voting.
As per the DMC Act 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to be elected in the very first House that convenes after the civic polls. However, it’s been two months since the municipal elections were held, and Delhi is still to get a mayor.
The first two sessions — held on January 6 and January 24 — were adjourned by the presiding officer without electing a mayor following a massive showdown between members of the BJP and the AAP.
Clash Between AAP, BJP Councillors
The first session of the 250-member House went fully in vain on January 6 as AAP protested against BJP councillor and presiding officer Satya Sharma’s decision to administer the oath of 10 aldermen.
Both the BJP and AAP claimed that their councillors sustained injuries as chairs were thrown and attempts made to snatch the presiding officer’s microphone. AAP councillors climbed on tables, including that of the presiding officer, to protest against the decision to first administer oath to the aldermen appointed by Lt Governor VK Saxena.
AAP accused BJP of violating constitutional provisions in their appointments to increase its voting power in the mayoral election as prior to the first House session on January 6, the MCD received nominations for ten aldermen, all from BJP, by Lt Governor Saxena.
In the second session, the nominated members followed by elected members took oath.
After the oath-taking exercise, the second municipal House was adjourned till the next date by Presiding Officer and BJP councillor Satya Sharma.
While BJP members had walked out of chamber shouting anti-AAP and anti-Arvind Kejriwal slogans, the AAP members held a peaceful protest in the House for nearly five hours.
Senior AAP leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, told reporters after emerging from the House that by “not allowing” the mayoral election to take place, the BJP was “strangulating democracy” and “starting a dangerous tradition”.
AAP leader and party MLA Atishi had appealed to the Lt Governor to ensure the election for mayor, deputy mayor and six members of the standing committee are held at the earliest.
Later, AAP’s mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi moved Supreme Court on the delay in holding the mayoral election.
Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena’s office in a statement on Wednesday announced that the third session of the House will be held on Monday. “The L-G has approved February 6, as proposed by the deputy chief minister and the chief minister for holding the adjourned first meeting of the MCD, and asked for the election of mayor, deputy mayor and the six-member standing committee to be held,” VK Saxena’s office said in a statement.
AAP Want Aldermen to be Debarred from Voting
AAP on Sunday wrote to MCD’s presiding officer seeking debarment of aldermen from voting in election of mayor, deputy mayor and Standing Committee, saying that if it happens, it will be an insult to the people of Delhi.
“This is to reiterate that as per the Article 243 R of the Constitution of India and as given in the Proviso to Section 3 (b)(i) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, the nominated members (aldermen) are not entitled to vote in the elections,” the letter said.
“We, therefore, humbly request you that under no circumstance, the nominated members (aldermen) be allowed to vote in the upcoming elections of Mayor, Dy Mayor and Standing Committee. Any attempt on the part of the nominated councillors (Alderman) to vote in the … election will be direct affront and insult to the mandate of the people of Delhi which had sent the Aam Aadmi Party with a majority to the MCD in the 2022 elections,” it added.
Delhi MCD Election
The civic polls were held on December 4 while the counting of votes took place on December 7.
The Aam Aadmi Party had emerged as a clear winner in the polls, bagging 134 wards and ending the BJP’s 15-year rule in the civic body.
The Bharatiya Janata Party won 104 wards to finish second, followed by the Congress which won nine seats in the 250-member municipal House.
Delhi Mayoral Candidate
BJP’s mayoral candidate is Rekha Gupta. 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’s standing committee are also slated to be elected during the municipal House.
History of MCD Elections
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) came into being in April 1958. Its mayor wielded influence and carried a huge prestige till 2012 when the corporation was spilt into three separate civic bodies, each having its own mayor.
In 2022, the Centre brought a legislation to unify the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (104 wards), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (104 wards) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (64 wards) into a single entity. It also capped the total number of wards at 250, down from 272 wards earlier.
Thus, after the upcoming mayoral poll, Delhi will get a mayor for the city as a whole after a gap of 10 years.
This was also the first municipal elections after the redrawing of the wards, the exercise being necessitated after the unification.
The post of mayor in Delhi 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.
(With PTI inputs)
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