No Mayor For Delhi: Third MCD Session Adjourned Amidst Disruptions

A stalemate ensued for the third time in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) meeting mandated to elect a mayor. This time the house proceedings were disrupted over the nominated members or the aldermen being allowed to vote in the elections to the post.

The house assembled around 11:30 am. Presiding officer Satya Sharma announced that elections for mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members would take place simultaneously, with aldermen allowed to vote.

This announcement caused uproar from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors, with party leader Mukesh Goel stating that aldermen were not allowed to vote.

Sharma responded by saying, "people have elected you to serve them, let the election proceed." The house was then adjourned briefly.

This was the third session of the house after the 4 December municipal polls, with the previous two sessions ending in adjournments without a mayor being elected.

In the beginning of the session today, both the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the other of not allowing the house to function.

In a press conference at BJP Delhi headquarters, the Delhi BJP president, Virendra Sachdeva, charged the AAP for approaching its elected councillors and offering them cash and other allurements to switch sides during the voting.

Talking to the reporters, after the house was adjourned, AAP spokesperson and MLA, Saurabh Bhardwaj, said that they would not allow the voting to take place if aldermen are allowed to vote. He said the matter would now be decided in the Supreme Court.

The BJP MLA, Vijender Gupta, on the other hand, criticised the party for resorting to anarchy at every juncture and keeping the MCD in suspension mode to meet their political ends.

According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to be elected in the very first session of the house after the civic polls. However, it's been two months since the municipal elections were held, and Delhi is yet to get a mayor.

The AAP had earlier objected to Lt Governor, V K Saxena, nominating 10 aldermen to the MCD house without consulting the AAP government in Delhi. As per the DMC Act, MCD is an autonomous body with the LG as its administrator.

(With inputs from PTI)