Ruckus Delays Delhi’s Mayor Election Yet Again; AAP and BJP Blame Each Other For Impasse

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 25th Jan. The high-stakes Delhi mayor election has been halted for the second time this month, with the House adjourned until further notice by the LG-appointed presiding officer in response to a ruckus by some councillors. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors, 13 MLAs, and three Rajya Sabha MPs staged a nearly four-hour “dharna” against the BJP at the Civic Centre, demanding immediate elections.

Both the BJP and the AAP blamed each other for the derailment of the proceedings.

The day began with the oath-taking of 249 councillors in front of an unusually large number of civil defense personnel and marshals. Outside the House, paramilitary personnel were also stationed with anti-riot equipment.

The House was adjourned for a 15-minute break shortly after the oath-taking ceremony was completed.

When the House reconvened, sloganeering by BJP and AAP members collided, prompting Presiding Officer Satya Sharma, a BJP councillor, to adjourn the House until further notice, infuriating AAP councillors. Some BJP councillors stood up and chanted slogans.

AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak, who sat on a “dharna” in the House with his party’s members, demanded that BJP councillors return to the House for the mayoral elections.

The AAP councillors refused to leave the house and spent their time singing religious hymns and patriotic songs. ‘Achyutam Keshavam’ and ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’ were two of the songs.

AAP members called off their “dharna” around 7.30 pm amid chants of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Arvind Kejriwal Zindabad’.

Rekha Gupta, the BJP’s mayoral candidate and three-term Shalimar Bagh councillor, also held a “dharna” at the Civic Centre. Gupta claimed that the AAP caused the commotion that resulted in the House being adjourned.

Manish Sisodia, senior AAP leader and Deputy Chief Minister, has urged the BJP to accept defeat in the MCD elections and work to ensure the smooth conduct of the mayoral elections.

“Everyone saw the drama of the BJP. The public had got fed up with their rule in the MCD. They gave mountains of garbage to Delhi and ruined the entire capital,” Sisodia said.

“First, they avoided the MCD elections and when the public showed them the door, they are running away from the election of mayor,” he said.

Manoj Tiwari, a Delhi BJP MP, claimed the AAP was avoiding mayor and deputy mayor elections despite having a majority in the MCD.

The North East Delhi MP also claimed that AAP leaders, including party councillors, acted inappropriately toward BJP members.

This is the second time in 15 days that a scuffle has forced the House to adjourn, preventing the mayor from being elected.

Following the 15-minute adjournment on Tuesday, BJP councillors marched to the AAP councillors’ benches and raised slogans. A few councillors from both parties then got into a heated debate on one of the House’s aisles.

This prompted Presiding Officer Sharma to adjourn the House till a further date. “A House cannot run like this. This House is adjourned till next date,” Satya Sharma said.

Enraged by the move, the AAP accused the saffron party of adjourning the House because it lacked the necessary votes for the mayoral elections.

“The BJP doesn’t have numbers that’s why he has adjourned the House. All our councillors are sitting here. If you have guts then come and get voting done. Respect the mandate of the people of Delhi,” Pathak had said earlier in the day.

To avoid a repeat of the chaos seen during the previous meeting on January 6, security personnel were deployed inside the municipal House, the Civic Centre premises, and even the Well.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged that this is a very dangerous trend started by the BJP. “This is an insult to the mandate of the people and democracy,” he said.

AAP MLA Atishi said that the BJP lost the election but still they are not accepting the mandate. “Have some respect for the Constitution. We appeal again that please get the elections done soon,” she told reporters after AAP members ended their “dharna” inside the House.

On January 6, the newly elected MCD House adjourned without electing the mayor and deputy mayor amid AAP councillors’ loud protests over the presiding officer’s decision to administer the oath to the 10 aldermen first.

Though aldermen do not have the right to vote in mayor elections, they wield significant power and play an important role in standing committee elections as well as MCD in-house and ward committee meetings.

The municipal elections were held on December 4, and the votes were counted on December 7.

The AAP was a clear winner in the elections, taking 134 wards and ending the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) 15-year reign in the civic body. The BJP finished second with 104 wards, while the Congress received nine seats.

The AAP is running for mayor with Shelly Oberoi. Rekha Gupta has been nominated by the BJP. Aaley Mohammad Iqbal and Jalaj Kumar (AAP) and Kamal Bagri (BJP) are the candidates for deputy mayor.

In addition to the mayor and deputy mayor, six members of the MCD’s standing committee will be elected during the municipal House.

In the national capital, the mayor is elected for five single-year terms on a rotating basis, with the first year reserved for women, the second for the open category, the third for the reserved category, and the remaining two for the open category.

As a result, Delhi will have a woman mayor this year. The mayor will be elected by 250 councillors, seven Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha MPs from Delhi, and 14 Legislative Assembly-nominated MLAs.

The Speaker of the Delhi Assembly has appointed one BJP MLA and thirteen AAP MLAs to the MCD.