New Delhi : The high stakes battle for Delhi’s main municipal body, now hinging on the election of a mayor, was postponed after the house was adjourned sine die following the ruckus for the second time in week after a fresh clash between the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councilors.
The house was adjourned after Presiding officer Satya Sharma said the proceedings cannot be conducted amid sloganeering from both AAP and BJP councillors.
“We were sitting in the House to vote since 11 am and when finally the time came, a ruckus began in the House. This is wrong, democratic principles must be followed, ” Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi said.
Nonetheless, “We want the election of the Mayor of the MCD to be held today itself. The AAP councillors did not create any ruckus in the House. The BJP created ruckus with its own councilors and postponed the mayoral election again,” Manish Sisodia said.
Proceedings of the House began today nearly three weeks after the process to elect the new mayor was aborted on January 6 following acrimonious scenes between the AAP and the BJP.
Visuals from the House earlier today showed heavy deployment of security personnel, including in the well of the House.
The oath-taking ceremony began at the Civic Centre here with Presiding officer Satya Sharma of the BJP administering oath first to aldermen, the members nominated by the Lt Governor before administering oath to the elected councillors.
All 250 councilors and 10 nominated members completed the oath-taking process before a break was announced.
After the break, there was a commotion between AAP and BJP councillors.
Earlier visuals showed heavy presence of marshals inside the House. Sharing a video, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said: “Today BJP has brought force with sticks to take possession of Municipal Corporation. Have you seen this in any House?”
The maiden meeting of the newly elected 250-member MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) House on January 6 was adjourned without electing the mayor and the deputy mayor amid loud protests by AAP councillors over the presiding officer’s decision to administer oath to the 10 aldermen first. The MCD polls were held on December 4 and the counting of votes took place on December 7. The AAP scored a landslide victory in the polls, bagging 134 wards and ending the BJP’s 15-year rule in the civic body. The BJP won 104 wards to finish second while the Congress won nine seats.
