Elections for the mayor of Delhi were postponed on Tuesday after the House was adjourned sine die due to a scuffle between Aam Aadmi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party councillors. The meeting was postponed after Presiding Officer Satya Sharma stated that the proceedings could not resume while both AAP and BJP councillors were shouting slogans.
“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.
The House’s proceedings started today, nearly three weeks after the process to elect the new mayor was called off on January 6 due to contentious scenes between the AAP and the BJP.
Images from the House earlier today revealed a large deployment of security officers, including in the House well. The event began at the Civic Centre here, with BJP Presiding Officer Satya Sharma delivering the oath first to aldermen, the members selected by the Lt Governor, before administering the oath to the elected councillors.
Before the break, all 250 councillors and 10 nominated members took the oath of office. Following the break, there was a scuffle between AAP and BJP councillors.
Earlier images showed a large number of marshals inside the House. Saurabh Bharadwaj, an AAP spokesperson, stated in a video: “Today BJP has brought force with sticks to take possession of Municipal Corporation. Have you seen this in any House?”
