The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will hold elections for the final open seat on its Standing Committee at 1 p.m. today, following a heated political showdown between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, VK Saxena.
A series of controversy and contentious debates between the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ensued before the poll. Both parties are accusing each other of political manoeuvring. This election comes after the resignation of BJP councillor Kamaljeet Sehrawat, who was elected to the Lok Sabha. With the AAP holding three seats and the BJP holding two, both parties are now in a close race.
Additional Commissioner Jitender Yadav, serving as the Returning Officer, will be overseeing the election process. A video recording of the entire voting process will be made, as ordered by the governor.
The Standing Committee oversees the MCD’s financial decisions and approves projects worth more than ₹5 crore.
What Happened on Thursday?
Lieutenant Governor Saxena ordered MCD Commissioner Ashwani Kumar to hold an immediate election to fill the important Standing Committee seat number eighteen. Saxena made his decision after Mayor Shelly Oberoi abruptly delayed the MCD House meeting earlier in the day, rescheduling it for October 5.
BJP councillors protested against the mayor’s decision. The Lieutenant Governor reacted by nullifying the adjournment and ordered the elections to be held late-night., He also ordered the Deputy Mayor or the most senior member to take charge of the proceedings if the Mayor decline to lead. Manish Sisodia and other AAP leaders vehemently denounced the idea to hold a late-night election. Sisodia claimed that it was “Murder of Democracy.”
During an after-hours press conference, Sisodia charged that the BJP was trying to sabotage democracy by holding the poll without the participation of AAP council members. He stated to take legal action against the order and remarked that similar tactics were used in the recent mayoral election in Chandigarh mayoral poll.
Any election held before October 5th, according to Mayor Shelly Oberoi, would be “illegal and unconstitutional.”
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AAP’s Concern
What added up to the political tension between the two parties was that on Wednesday, three AAP councillors defected to the BJP, that complicated the MCD’s political equilibrium, shrinking AAP’s advantage over the BJP, shrinking 125 council members in the 250-member MCD to only 113. AAP now fears the cross voting which could harm AAP’s hopes of winning the crucial Standing Committee seat.
Security Measures Taken
Strict security measures have been put in place because of the tense environment. To protect voting confidentiality, the MCD secretariat has prohibited cell phones and other electronic devices from being used inside the chamber.
The Delhi police have installed frisking points at entry points, which has sparked additional protests from AAP council members who claim that these actions violate their dignity. AAP members refused to abide by the phone restriction on Thursday by staging a sit-in protest in the MCD House lobby.
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