On Friday(27th Sept), the BJP secured the last vacant seat in the MCD’s 18-member Standing Committee without opposition, following a boycott of the election by AAP and Congress councillors.
New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) plans to file a petition in the Supreme Court on Saturday(28th Sept) challenging the “unconstitutional, illegal, and undemocratic” election of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Standing Committee, as stated by senior party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi.
On Friday(27th Sept), the BJP secured the last vacant seat in the MCD’s 18-member Standing Committee without opposition, following a boycott of the election by AAP and Congress councillors.
Sunder Singh Tanwar, a BJP councillor from Bhati in South Delhi, secured the last remaining seat on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)’s 18-member Standing Committee in an election held on Friday.
Mr. Tanwar received all 115 votes from his party’s councillors, defeating Nirmala Kumar, who was nominated by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The AAP chose to boycott the election, labeling it “illegal and unlawful,” while the Congress abstained from the proceedings.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva remarked,
“Due to Arvind Kejriwal’s obstinacy, the election for the Standing Committee member became an issue of internal democracy in the corporation. The BJP has won and protected democracy.”
With this victory, the BJP now controls the civic body’s main decision-making body, which has the executive power to approve projects worth over Rs 5 crore, holding 10 members compared to the AAP’s eight.
Notably, the winning candidate had defected from AAP to BJP in August, joining a group of 10 councillors who switched from the ruling party since the December 2022 civic elections, where AAP won 134 seats, BJP secured 104 seats, and Congress obtained nine, while Independents took three.
Following the recent defection of three councillors, AAP’s tally dropped to 124 two seats shy of a majority while BJP’s count increased to 115. Congress remains at nine, and two seats are held by Independent councillors.
During a press conference, Atishi challenged the BJP to dissolve the MCD and hold elections, asserting that the public should decide who governs the civic body. She accused the elections of being conducted through the “misuse” of the lieutenant governor’s powers and the administrative officers.
Atishi emphasized that the regulations stipulate that only the mayor has the authority to determine the date and location for MCD House meetings and to preside over them.
Mayor’s Objections
The election was originally set for Thursday(26th Sept) but faced multiple postponements and was adjourned until October 5 by Mayor Shelly Oberoi. However, shortly after her announcement, Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena overruled her decision and instructed MCD Commissioner Ashwani Kumar to conduct the poll that same day. The election was unable to take place, as AAP councillors had left the MCD headquarters by then.
On Friday(27th Sept), the election proceeded without AAP councillors, as Mr. Kumar appointed Additional Commissioner Jitendra Yadav as the Presiding Officer.
In response, Ms. Oberoi wrote to the MCD Commissioner, asserting that the Presiding Officer should be the Mayor or, in her absence, the Deputy Mayor or the most senior councillor present.
Earlier that day, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of “wrongly overpowering the MCD and stealing the mandate,” stating there was something amiss with their intentions. Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claimed the BJP was “murdering” democracy.
She denounced the process as a “gross violation of the statutory scheme of the DMC (Delhi Municipal Corporation) Act” and directed the Commissioner to declare the election “null and void.”
In a statement, AAP emphasized that the authority to set the date, time, and location of the meeting belongs solely to the Mayor.
The 18 members of the Standing Committee will now elect a Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson to finalize the panel’s constitution.
This election was triggered by the vacancy created when BJP’s Kamaljeet Sehrawat won a West Delhi Lok Sabha seat in the recent general election.
