Delhi LG nominees to MCD may lead to face-off between AAP, Centre

The AAP has won 134 wards and the BJP 104 seats of the total 250 wards in the latest MCD elections, results of which were announced on Wednesday.

With the power structure in the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi becoming clearer after the Union government notified the new wards and zone boundaries, both the victor, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the runner-up, the Bharatiya Janata Party, are now laying claims over the right to nominate 10 members, often referred to as Adlermen, to the House.

The AAP has won 134 wards and the BJP 104 seats of the total 250 wards in the latest MCD elections, results of which were announced on Wednesday. (HT Archive)

The AAP has won 134 wards and the BJP 104 seats of the total 250 wards in the latest MCD elections, results of which were announced on Wednesday.

Senior municipal officials said that these nominated members do not enjoy voting rights in the House, but they can play an important role in the elections to the powerful Standing Committee -- a panel that clears all policies and proposals before they are considered by the House -- in their capacity as members of ward committees.

How does it work?

The MCD has 12 zones with a ward committee each. These ward committees are made up of all the councillors from the wards that fall under a particular zone. They were introduced under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, to decentralise power. They take important administrative decisions at the zonal level.

Besides the councillors, the nominated members are also members of these committees. Under the DMC Act, these nominees have voting rights in the ward committee, and can influence decision making.

Role in choosing Standing Committee

The politics over nominees has its roots in the role of nominated members in the election of the Standing Committee. Since Mayor is only the ceremonial head of the elected House, like that of a speaker of the legislative body, it is the Standing Committee that wields real authority in the decision making process. Half of the members of this committee are chosen in a direct election in the House, where AAP is in a majority; but the rest of the members are elected by the ward committees.

According to the election results, the AAP has a decisive control in seven zones, the BJP controls 4 zones and in one of the units, two Congress members and an Independent candidate is expected to play a critical role in decision making.

According to senior civic officials, since there is no bar on how many (of the total 10) Aldermen can be nominated to a particular ward committee, they may tilt the balance of power in several zones.

Politics over nominations

According to the DMC Act, the administrator (the Lieutenant Governor) has the right to nominate the Aldermen, but the AAP has said that the nominated members will be chosen by the Delhi government, citing the 2017 precedent. However, even then, the 10 Aldermen were chosen by the Delhi government but then LG Anil Baijal had signed on the names to ratify the process.

Durgesh Pathak, the AAP MCD in-charge and party MLA from Rajinder Nagar said on Friday that the Aldermen will be nominated by the Delhi government, and that the process will be initiated soon. “There will no problem in securing the numbers in the MCD for the Aam Aadmi Party,” he said. Pathak added that the first House meeting should be held soon, and not in April referring to the confusion over the date for convening the newly elected House.

Praveen Shankar Kapoor, Delhi BJP spokesperson, said that there was no confusion over the appointment of the Aldermen. He said that the LG is the “sole authority” empowered to make these nominations according to the provisions of the amended DMC Act. “As the word ‘Government’ in the Act now means central government, there is no ambiguity over the fact that the LG will appoint Aldermen. The AAP has a habit of creating confusion. It is clear that the 13 MLAs will be nominated to the MCD by Delhi government, through Vidhan Sabha Speaker, and the Aldermen will be nominated by LG,” Kapoor said.

Besides 250 elected councillors, 13 Delhi MLA, all seven Lok Sabha MPs, three Rajya Sabha MPs and 10 Aldermen are all members of the MCD House. Everyone, except the 10 nominated members, have voting rights in the House.

Expert speak

Anil Gupta, former chief law officer of the municipal corporation, concurred with Kapoor’s contention. “The term ‘Government’ has been replaced by the ‘central government’ in the amended Delhi Municipal Corporation Act. Thus, the LG, who is a representative of the central government, has the powers to execute all the powers vested in the government,” he said. Gupta added that the Aldermen has all other powers of elected councilors besides voting rights in the House.

“They get the councillor development fund and other perks. They have voting rights in the zonal wards committee and can be elected as members of other statutory committees, including the Standing Committee. An Alderman can also be deputy chairman of the Standing Committee but he post of Standing Committee chairperson is reserved for an elected councilor,” he added.

The position of Aldermen was supposed to bring people who have expertise in various subjects to the municipal administration so that they can improve the functioning of the civic body. An MCD official posed in the municipal secretariat explained that the residential address of an Alderman decides the area/ward they represent. “There is no restriction on the distribution of these members across various zones. They can be nominated from different zones or in extreme case, all of them from the same zone,” the official added.