AAP, BJP councillors engage in physical fight as chaos reigns in the MCD House

New Delhi: A massive fight broke out between AAP and BJP members in the House after Mayor Shelly Oberoi declared one vote invalid in the election to a key six-member municipal committee on Friday. Ruckus forced adjournment of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House proceedings till February 27. Both the BJP and the AAP blamed each other for the incident that forced the Mayor to adjourn the House.

While the first half of the House went on peacefully, the second half witnessed violence as AAP and BJP members indulge in punching, kicking and slapping each other. In a video, councillors from both parties were seen hurling water bottles and apples at each other inside the House, while in another, women councillors were seen hitting each other.

BJP councillors broke through the police barricade reaching the Mayor’s stage and tried to snatch ballot papers from her hands. It forced Oberoi to flee the scene.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Atishi alleged that BJP members got agitated and attacked the Delhi Mayor when they sensed their party would lose the election.

On Friday, the House started at 11:30 am and went on peacefully until 5 pm. Voting for the standing committee polls saw friendly sloganeering from both parties. A total of 242 votes were counted, there were 250 voting members in the House, but 8 councillors abstained from voting.

However, once the counting of ballots ended, the situation took a complete u-turn. Mayor Shelly Oberoi announced that one vote was invalid, which resulted in sloganeering from BJP councillors.

Standing committee member candidate Kamaljeet Sehrawat was seen arguing with Mayor Oberoi over the invalid vote. Oberoi refused to acknowledge BJP’s protests and stated that she will not count the invalid vote.

As per BJP sources, the vote was not invalid and had been approved by the representatives from the Election Commission. Sehrawat claimed that the EC representatives had declared the victory of three BJP councillors in the standing committee, however, the Mayor is calling it invalid. AAP claimed that BJP councillors cross voted in their favour.

As ruckus marred the House, Oberoi called for maintaining the dignity. After a short while, the Mayor stated that she will be allowing a recount but refused to admit the invalid vote. The situation kept escalating as councillors took to protesting on atop tables and chanting against each other.

Amidst all this, Oberoi tried to announce the results of the polls but as she was doing so, BJP councillors broke through the police barricade and reached her. Visuals of violence were doing rounds across social media as several councillors were hurt and injured.

Meenakshi Sharma, a BJP councillor claimed that she was attacked with a sharp object. On the other hand, AAP councillor Ashok Kumar Maanu collapsed inside the House. He was rushed to a nearby hospital.

BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said, “I believe the Municipal Corporation of Delhi should be dissolved and elections should be held again”. Harish Khurrana, BJP spokesperson shared documents to prove the victory of three of their councillors.

Despite the heavy police deployment, councillors refused to collaborate and managed to get in quite a few blows against each other. After a round of fury from both parties, councillors started to leave the House. Proceedings were suspended for approximately 2 hours and then resumed with much gusto.

AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak started the proceedings by blaming Municipal Secretary Bhagwan Singh for everything that took place in the House on Friday. Pathak said, “He did not take any responsibility, did not know anything or how much security was required and is the reason behind everything that happened today. We think he is involved with the BJP”. After which, Mayor Oberoi said that the House had been adjourned until 11 am on 27 February.

BJP leaders said, “We oppose the re-election of the standing committee and demand that the Municipal Corporation be dissolved, and re-elections should be conducted”.

The Standing Committee has powers to grant financial approval to projects, set up sub committees on several issues and finalise policies.

A mayor’s powers are only limited to call meetings of the MCD House and disqualify members if they do not furnish details of their assets.