15 adjournments in 16 hours: MCD House to meet again at 10 am today

New Delhi: The MCD House was adjourned for 15 times between 6 pm on Wednesday to 10 am on Thursday, failing to elect standing committee members.

As per officials, this was the first time in history that the MCD House was operative overnight. The House was finally adjourned till Friday.

The reason behind the House’s all-nighter was differences between BJP and AAP over the allowances of phones during the voting of standing committee members. The House broke into ruckus after it was declared by the freshly elected Mayor Shelly Oberoi that all voting members of the House will be allowed their phones inside the polling booth.

Rallying against Oberoi’s decision, BJP councillors reached the Well to register their protest, however, Oberoi said she doesn’t want to insult anyone as all are elected leaders and wants to maintain the dignity of the House.

After which, BJP councillors allowed elections to begin, however, within the next thirty minutes, the House had to adjourn for the first time due to sloganeering from the Opposition party. Senior BJP councillor Shikha Rai alleged that AAP leaders are using their phones to click pictures of their ballots, defeating the purpose of the secret ballot provision. BJP leaders stated that this is a mockery of the democratic system in MCD.

Post this, the House restarted and adjourned multiple times as BJP councillors protested against Mayor Oberoi, calling her a cheater for allowing phones in the polling process. After a round of sloganeering and verbal fights, Oberoi agreed to BJP’s demands and stated no phones will be allowed inside the voting booth. By this point, close to 50 votes had been casted and several ballot papers had been distributed.

BJP continued raising objections, demanding a fresh election to take place and declare the votes already cast invalid. However, AAP leaders refused this demand. As matter escalated, the House kept being adjourned repeatedly. Around 11 pm, violence broke into the House, leaders were witnessed clashing with each other by throwing bottles, water and chappals.

Several rounds of violence occurred in between 8:30 am and 11 pm, addressing a press conference, Oberoi accused the BJP of deliberately ruining the decorum of the House and not letting the Standing Committee elections take place. “We will not end the session before the election is held, and proceedings will resume on Friday at 10 am,” she said.

BJP councillors on the other hand claimed that Oberoi had switched off their mikes and refused to listen to them.

Meanwhile, the MCD secretary has recommended fresh polls for electing members of the standing committee, claiming the sanctity of electoral process was “badly bruised” last night.

In a report filed to mayor Shelly Oberoi and commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, the MCD secretary has also said that enough ballot papers not available for electing six members of standing committee, and it was important that the election is conducted afresh.

“The sanctimony of the election process has been badly bruised,” the municipal secretary’s report sates, giving various reasons to support the claim.

He also pointed out that there were only 245 ballot papers, while at least 250 are needed to take the process forward. “It may be noted that the election process has

traditionally been held with a stock of 300 ballot papers as the possibility of few ballot paper getting damaged is there,” he reported, seeking time for printing of new set of ballot papers.

New Delhi: The MCD House was adjourned for 15 times between 6 pm on Wednesday to 10 am on Thursday, failing to elect standing committee members.

As per officials, this was the first time in history that the MCD House was operative overnight. The House was finally adjourned till Friday.

The reason behind the House’s all-nighter was differences between BJP and AAP over the allowances of phones during the voting of standing committee members. The House broke into ruckus after it was declared by the freshly elected Mayor Shelly Oberoi that all voting members of the House will be allowed their phones inside the polling booth.

Rallying against Oberoi’s decision, BJP councillors reached the Well to register their protest, however, Oberoi said she doesn’t want to insult anyone as all are elected leaders and wants to maintain the dignity of the House.

After which, BJP councillors allowed elections to begin, however, within the next thirty minutes, the House had to adjourn for the first time due to sloganeering from the Opposition party. Senior BJP councillor Shikha Rai alleged that AAP leaders are using their phones to click pictures of their ballots, defeating the purpose of the secret ballot provision. BJP leaders stated that this is a mockery of the democratic system in MCD.

Post this, the House restarted and adjourned multiple times as BJP councillors protested against Mayor Oberoi, calling her a cheater for allowing phones in the polling process. After a round of sloganeering and verbal fights, Oberoi agreed to BJP’s demands and stated no phones will be allowed inside the voting booth. By this point, close to 50 votes had been casted and several ballot papers had been distributed.

BJP continued raising objections, demanding a fresh election to take place and declare the votes already cast invalid. However, AAP leaders refused this demand. As matter escalated, the House kept being adjourned repeatedly. Around 11 pm, violence broke into the House, leaders were witnessed clashing with each other by throwing bottles, water and chappals.

Several rounds of violence occurred in between 8:30 am and 11 pm, addressing a press conference, Oberoi accused the BJP of deliberately ruining the decorum of the House and not letting the Standing Committee elections take place. “We will not end the session before the election is held, and proceedings will resume on Friday at 10 am,” she said.

BJP councillors on the other hand claimed that Oberoi had switched off their mikes and refused to listen to them.

Meanwhile, the MCD secretary has recommended fresh polls for electing members of the standing committee, claiming the sanctity of electoral process was “badly bruised” last night.

In a report filed to mayor Shelly Oberoi and commissioner Gyanesh Bharti, the MCD secretary has also said that enough ballot papers not available for electing six members of standing committee, and it was important that the election is conducted afresh.

“The sanctimony of the election process has been badly bruised,” the municipal secretary’s report sates, giving various reasons to support the claim.

He also pointed out that there were only 245 ballot papers, while at least 250 are needed to take the process forward. “It may be noted that the election process has

traditionally been held with a stock of 300 ballot papers as the possibility of few ballot paper getting damaged is there,” he reported, seeking time for printing of new set of ballot papers.