AAP councilor and MLA raising slogans at the Civic Center on Tuesday. , Photo credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Newly-elected Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) met in yet another incident of ruckus, which was again adjourned without electing a mayor, prompting AAP councilors to stage a sit-in in the House till late Tuesday evening.
The House met again on Tuesday, weeks after the first session on January 6 was adjourned following bitter scenes between the AAP and the BJP. Chaos broke out in the House after the presiding officer Satya Sharma – a BJP corporator appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to preside over the meeting – protested the decision to first administer the oath to nominated persons (aldermen) instead of elected corporators.
All councilors are sworn in at the first House meeting, after which elections are held for the post of mayor and deputy mayor. The councilors also elect six members for the standing committee of the municipal body. Apart from 250 councillors, Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha MPs, three Rajya Sabha MPs and 14 MLAs nominated by the Delhi Assembly Speaker also voted in the mayoral election.
AAP has a clear majority in the House with 134 councillors, followed by the BJP with 104.
On Tuesday, despite initial murmurs of protest over Ms Sharma’s decision to swear in the first aldermen, the swearing-in process went off without a hitch. However, as soon as the mayor’s election process began, a heated argument broke out between BJP and AAP corporators, Ms. Sharma said. Soon, he adjourned the House till the next date. However, both the AAP and BJP councilors said they were not involved in any activity to disrupt the proceedings.
He said, “Despite reiterating their decision to let the aldermen take oath first, we cooperated and maintained peace in the house. The BJP was looking for an excuse to disrupt the meeting as they did not want the mayor’s election to take place. The actions were unconstitutional. We are sitting in the House till the mayor is elected,” said AAP corporator Mukesh Goyal. However, the AAP corporator left the House in the evening.
Ms. Sharma told Hindu that despite several appeals to “maintain peace”, the meeting witnessed frequent incidents of hooting, sloganeering, use of foul language and misbehavior, due to which the “atmosphere was not suitable” for conducting the mayoral election.
He said, “All the preparations for the election had been done, but there was an uproar in the interval of two minutes in which the election process was being started. I had no option but to adjourn the meeting. The next date will be decided by the lieutenant-governor’s office,” Ms Sharma said.
After the adjournment, AAP councilors and senior leaders, including 13 MLAs and three Rajya Sabha MPs who voted in the mayoral election, remained seated while senior AAP leader Durgesh Pathak conducted a headcount, which said the party was nearing victory. The mayoral election is ahead.
“It is an insult to the people that the House was adjourned without any concrete reason,” Mr Pathak said.