MCD mayor election called off for third time amid AAP-BJP ruckus

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had emerged as a clear winner in the polls, bagging 134 wards and ending the BJP's 15-year rule in the civic body.

New Delhi, Feb 06: The Delhi Municipal House adjourned until further notice without electing a Mayor amid AAP-BJP ruckus. This was the third attempt to elect the civic body chief after the first two sessions - held on January 6 and January 24, were adjourned without electing a mayor amid a massive face-off between members of the BJP and the AAP.

"Municipal House in Delhi adjourned till next date," Presiding Officer Satya Sharma said.

Soon after the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House assembled around 11:30 am, after a delay of half an hour, Sharma announced that elections to the posts of mayor, deputy mayor and Standing Committee members will be held simultaneously.

"Aldermen will be allowed to vote in the elections for mayor, deputy mayor and Standing Committee members," she said.

According to the DMC Act 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to elected in the very first House that convenes after the civic polls.

However, it has been two months since the municipal elections were held, and Delhi is still to get a mayor.

While the first session of the 250-member House after the civic polls went fully in vain, in the second session, the nominated members followed by elected members took oath, many of whom had chanted slogans like 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Jai Shri Ram' after taking oath.

The second municipal House, briefly adjourned after the oath-taking ceremony, was later adjourned till next date by the presiding officer and BJP councillor Satya Sharma.

While BJP members had walked out of the chamber shouting slogans against the AAP and its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP members refused to budge from their seats, and held a peaceful protest in the House for nearly five hours.

Before dispersing from the Civic Centre, senior leaders of the AAP, including Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, had told reporters after emerging from the House that by "not allowing" the mayoral election to take place, the BJP was "strangulating democracy" and "starting a dangerous tradition".

AAP leader and party MLA Atishi had appealed to Lt Governor V K Saxena to ensure the election for mayor, deputy mayor and six members of the standing committee are held at the earliest.

The civic polls were held on December 4 and the counting of votes took place on December 7.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had emerged as a clear winner in the polls, bagging 134 wards and ending the BJP's 15-year rule in the civic body. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 104 wards to finish second, while the Congress won nine seats in the 250-member municipal House which convenes on February 6 for the third time after the 2022 civic polls.

BJP's mayoral candidate is Rekha Gupta. The nominees for the post of deputy mayor are -- Aaley Mohammad Iqbal (AAP) and Kamal Bagri (BJP).

Besides mayor and deputy mayor, six members of the MCD's standing committee are also slated to be elected during the municipal House. The maiden meeting of the newly-elected MCD House on January 6 was adjourned without electing the mayor and the deputy mayor amid loud protests by AAP councillors over the presiding officer's decision to administer oath to the 10 aldermen first.