The Municipal House of Delhi (MCD) adjourned failing to elect a mayor and its deputy for the third time in a month after ruckus erupted over the nominated members, called aldermen, being allowed to vote in the election to the posts.
Presiding Officer Satya Sharma said that elections cannot be held in “such an atmosphere” and the house was adjourned till next date. While BJP councillors and leaders left the MCD House, AAP councillors were sitting inside and refused to leave.
Following a delay of half an hour, the MCD House assembled at around 11:30 AM, and Sharma announced that the elections to the posts of mayor, deputy mayor and Standing Committee members will be held simultaneously.
She said aldermen will be allowed to vote in the elections, according to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, which drew protests from AAP councillors. The Act says that ten people over 25 years of age can be nominated by the Lieutenant Governor, to assist the House in taking decisions of public importance.
The AAP has cried foul, alleging that Delhi L-G V K Saxena nominated the 10 aldermen to the MCD house without consulting the city government. AAP councillors on Sunday wrote to Sharma seeking debarment of the aldermen from voting, saying it will be an insult to the people of Delhi , if it happens. They contended that nominated members cannot vote in accordance with the Constitution and the DMC Act.
The first two MCD sessions were held on January 6 and January 24. They were adjourned by the presiding officer without electing a mayor following a ruckus and acrimonious exchanges between the members of the two party members.
The MCD polls were held in Delhi on December 4 last year, where the AAP came to power dislodging the BJP from power in the MCD after 15 years. In the 250-member House, the AAP won 134 wards, the BJP 104 wards, and Congress could just grab nine wards.