Delhi speaker shares names of 14 MLAs for mayoral polls collegium

MCD, in an agenda circulated on Tuesday, said that the mayoral elections are scheduled to be held on April 26

Delhi assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Tuesday nominated a set of 14 MLAs as members of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) who will form part of the electoral college to elect the mayor.

AAP councillors Mahesh Khichi and Ravinder Bhardwaj file their nominations for the post of Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively at the MCD office in New Delhi on April 18. (Sanjeev Verma/HT photo)

MCD, in an agenda circulated on Tuesday, said that the mayoral elections are scheduled to be held on April 26, provided the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) gets multiple clearances and overcomes procedural difficulties. The agenda, undersigned by municipal secretary Siva Prasad, bore a conditional stamp, saying ”the meeting/election is subject to clearance and permission from Election Commission and nomination of presiding officer.”

The order from the municipal secretary’s office, released by deputy secretary Mukesh Sharma said:“Speaker of the legislative assembly of National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT-Delhi) is pleased to nominate the following members of legislative assembly of Delhi to be represented in Municipal Corporation as per provision of section 3(3)(b) of the Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 for financial year 2024-25).”

The 14 members are Rajouri Garden MLA Dhanwati Chandela, Ambedkar Nagar MLA Ajay Dutt, Badli MLA Ajesh Yadav, Shalimar Bagh MLA Bandana Kumari, Timarpur MLA Dilip Kumar, Mustafabad MLA Haji Yunus, Vishwas Nagar MLA Om Prakash Sharma, Adarsh Nagar MLA Pawan Sharma, Jangpura MLA Praveen Kumar, Tri Nagar MLA Preeti Tomar, Narela’s Sharad Chauhan, Moti Nagar MLA Shiv Charan Goel, Sadar Bazar MLA Som Dutt and Karol Bagh MLA Vishesh Ravi.

Of the 14 nominated members, OP Sharma is from the BJP and rest of them are from AAP.

The electoral college for the election of mayor includes 250 elected councillors, seven members of Lok Sabha, three members of Rajya Sabha and 1/5th of the members of the Delhi assembly nominated by the speaker by rotation every year (14 MLAs). While 10 persons nominated by the LG (administrator), called alderman, are also part of the house of councillors, they do not have voting rights.

Holding a house meeting requires prior notice of 72 hours to all the members. The official business of the house will comprise of election of mayor followed by election of the deputy mayor. The Election Commission’s permission is needed as Lok Sabha elections have been announced and the Model Code of Conduct is in place.

A senior MCD official said that the two steps can be completed even a day before the election and that it would be difficult to hold the election at a later date. “We are waiting for a communication from the Election Commission. We moved the file for election clearance on April 8 and for nomination of presiding officer on April 19. A response is awaited in both the cases,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

In both instances, the file will go through the chief secretary, who heads the screening committee for the Model Code of Conduct and serves as the link between the LG secretariat and the Delhi government.

For the appointment of a presiding officer, a proposal is usually moved by the municipal secretary and municipal commissioner to the urban development ministry. “The file moves from urban development secretary, chief secretary, urban development minister, chief minister and it finally ends up with the LG, who has the power to nominate the presiding officer to oversee the election. Once a mayor is elected, the presiding officer steps down and the newly elected mayor oversees the deputy mayor’s election,” another MCD official said.

With the chief minister currently jailed, it remains unclear whether the LG’s office would accept the file.

An AAP functionary said that there have been some delays on the part of officers who were processing the NOC for the Election Commission. “The file has been send to Election Commission and we are waiting for the NOC,” the functionary said.

An official on request of anonymity said that relevant file for nomination of presiding officer for MCD elections was dealt as per law and sent to the office of CM. The official cited sections of GNCTD and DMC act to support its argument.

Section 45-I(4)(viii) of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 inter-alia provides that matters related to Local Self Government Institutions (i.e. MCD) and other matters connected therewith shall be submitted to the Hon’ble Lt. Governor through Hon’ble chief minister and the chief secretary. section 77(a) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 provides that at a meeting for the election of a Mayor the Hon’ble LG shall nominate a councillor who is not a candidate for such election to preside over the meeting.

The Delhi government, in a statement, said: “It’s appears that BJP ruled Central Government wants to repeat the same cheating they attempted in Chandigarh Mayor elections. They will try to manipulate mayor elections of MCD as well. We assure them that they will face the same embarrassment that they faced in Supreme Court during Chandigarh Mayor judgement.”

“The Chief Secretary is trying to mislead by misquoting Sec 45 (I) 4(viii) of GNCTD Amendment Act. The section is as below :- (viii) matters relating to summoning, prorogation and dissolution of the Legislative Assembly, removal of disqualification of voters at elections to the Legislative Assembly, Local Self Government Institutions and other matters connected therewith,” it said.

“One doesn’t need to be an advocate to understand this section. This section clearly says that this applies to MCD only when it is related to removal of disqualification of voters at elections to legislative assembly, local self government institutions,” it said,

“Very clearly, the subject being is discussed as nothing to do with disqualification of voters. The current subject matter is appointment of presiding officer in the MCD mayor elections. The CS working on the behest of BJP ruled Central Government thinks that he can manipulate the people of Delhi by misquoting so random section or rule.”

“Further, there has been no amendment in section 77(a) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 so the CS should have followed the practice with was followed for last many years. He should not have bypassed the elected Government,” the Delhi government said.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said: ”Blaming the chief secretary for the mayor election incident, writing a letter to the lieutenant governor on every issue of the Kejriwal government is a part of their habit of controversy on every issue.”

“Sachdeva said that although the chief secretary wrote a letter to the chief minister as per the rules, and since he is in jail, there was no response, so it was necessary to write a letter directly to the lieutenant governor, which is administratively correct,” he said.

“This is just a minor issue of the mayor election nomination; going forward, chief minister being in jail on more complex issues will create a problem.It would be better if, learning from the mayor election incident, Arvind Kejriwal resigns for the administrative interest, making way for a full-term chief minister,” he said.

The LG’s office refused to comment on the issue.

The chief election officer for Delhi did not comment on the elections.