MCD poll for Standing Committee seat postponed after high-voltage drama

New Delhi: The MCD polls for the sixth seat of the standing committee were postponed on Thursday after drama throughout the day with Mayor Shelly Oberoi adjourning the polls until October 5 and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena overturning her decision later.

There is uncertainty over when the polls will happen, however, sources said the polls are likely to take place on Friday (September 27).

Following disruption over frisking of the councillors, the election to the MCD Standing Committee was postponed with the meeting of the House being adjourned till October 5 earlier in the day. In a last minute intervention, Saxena late night overturned the postponement of elections for the last vacant seat of the standing committee and directed MCD Commissioner Ashwani Kumar to submit a report by 10 pm.

Saxena instructed to make the deputy mayor the presiding officer for the elections if the mayor refuses to hold the elections. In case, the deputy mayor also refuses, the senior most member of the House will preside over the elections, he ordered.

Following the order, the MCD commissioner issued an order for the conduct of the elections for the sixth member of the standing committee.

However, till 11 at night there was uncertainty over the elections and in the last moment the MCD officials announced the elections were postponed again.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia accused the BJP of “murdering” democracy in the MCD by forcing a standing committee member election to take place late in the night, despite adjournment of the House meeting of the civic body.

Sisodia claimed in a press conference that Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who is abroad, instructed the commissioner of MCD to hold the election by 10 pm on Thursday.

Sisodia demanded the L-G withdraw the order, and threatened legal action in the matter by his party.

He said the BJP was doing a repeat of the Chandigarh mayoral poll, by trying to conduct an election in the absence of AAP councillors.

The BJP has asked the MCD commissioner to hold the elections as per law and directions of the Supreme Court, Delhi unit president of the party Virendra Sachdeva said in a statement.

“The anti-incumbency against Arvind Kejriwal is at its peak and the AAP is running away from the election as he is scared his own councillors are going to desert him,” Sachdeva charged.

He said the BJP will file a contempt petition against the mayor in the court on Friday.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House proceeding for election to the lone standing committee seat was adjourned briefly amid uproar over frisking of councillors to check if anybody was carrying mobile phones.

As soon as Mayor Shelly Oberoi entered the House, she raised concern over the security check of councillors, claiming it was the first time this was happening. It was undemocratic and insulting for the members of the House, she said.

“The way public frisking is happening is undemocratic and insulting for the councillors. I am adjourning the House for 15 minutes and order the MCD commissioner to ensure the entry of councillors without any checking,” Oberoi said and adjourned the House.The mayor said she wanted the elections to happen but the atmosphere was disrupted due to the frisking.“This will be remembered in history. The way officers are pressurised and they did not comply to my orders. I am adjourning the House till October 5, 2 pm,” she said later and left the House.