The controversy surrounding the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) standing committee elections has reached the Supreme Court, where BJP councillor Raja Iqbal Singh filed a plea for an urgent hearing. Singh alleged that Chief Minister Shelley Oberoi had flouted norms by postponing the polls despite the Governor-General’s directives, which he said were in contempt of the August 5 Supreme Court order.
The BJP councillors filed a petition in the Supreme Court
Leader of Opposition in MCD Raja Iqbal Singh approached the Supreme Court accusing Mayor Shelley Oberoi of flouting law and custom by postponing standing committee elections till October 5. Singh argued that this delay despite Lt Governor's directive... Preliminary direction of the Supreme Court.
BJP won the MCD committee amid AAP boycott
The BJP on Friday won the last vacant seat in the 18-member Delhi Municipal Corporation standing committee unopposed after the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress boycotted the polls. While BJP candidate Sundar Singh got all the 115 votes cast by party councillors, Opposition candidate Nirmala Kumari got none. As a result, the BJP now controls 10 seats in the committee while the AAP holds eight seats, giving it more leverage to pass major proposals.
BJP accused of harassment, can challenge results
AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of "stealing the mandate" and called the election process "hooliganism". It was reported that AAP may challenge the election results in court. The ruling party, including the Congress, boycotted the elections citing irregularities. The Congress had earlier said it would abstain from polls to remain neutral and avoid "horse trading".
Mayor postpones election, LG overrules
Earlier, Mayor Shelly Oberoi postponed the elections to October 5 due to the uproar over councillors’ corruption. Delhi's Lt Governor V K Saxena, however, directed that the polls be held on Friday. Saxena replaced the chief minister with new commissioner Jitendra Yadav to preside over the meeting, which AAP condemned as unconstitutional.
Kejriwal criticises the process
Kejriwal condemned the LG's actions, saying the polls were not given proper notice and only the chief minister can preside over the MCD meeting. He called the election a “chaos” and criticised the bypass of elected representatives.
"They (freedom fighters) did not sacrifice their lives so that an LG or officers would sideline the elected representatives and run the government as per their wish," he said.
"This is hooliganism. Councillors were sent WhatsApp messages for the House meeting. Half of them got it and many were out of Delhi. Is this an election? We strongly condemn it," the AAP supremo said.
Also read | BJP's Sunder Singh wins vacant MCD standing committee seat, gets 115 votes
