Fourth attempt by Delhi municipal corporation to set its House in order

Wednesday’s meeting has a three-point agenda — the election of a mayor, a deputy mayor and six members of the standing committee, according to a notice issued by the municipal secretariat

Delhi’s civic body will on Wednesday make a fourth attempt to elect a mayor, days after the Supreme Court ordered that nominated members will play no role in the voting process, as it closed the chapter on one of the key sticking points that has hamstrung the city’s civic administration for several weeks.

The mayoral poll will be held first, after which the person elected will preside over the rest of the polls, in accordance with the top court’s Friday ruling. (HT Archvie)

Wednesday’s meeting has a three-point agenda — the election of a mayor, a deputy mayor and six members of the powerful standing committee, according to a notice issued by the municipal secretariat.

The mayoral poll will be held first, after which the person elected will preside over the rest of the polls, in accordance with the top court’s Friday ruling.

However, elections for members of the standing committee, a key body that controls the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) finances, may still prove to be a bone of contention between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Months after the MCD elections in December — which saw the AAP win 134 of Delhi’s 250 civic wards — the civic body continues to be run by centrally appointed officials, who have already finalised the tax rates for the coming financial year.

The AAP, which appears to have the edge in the mayoral polls, has fielded 39-year-old Shelly Oberoi for the post and 31-year-old Aaley Mohammed Iqbal for her deputy.

The BJP, which won 105 seats in the polls, has named 48-year-old Rekha Gupta for the top post and Kamal Bagri as deputy.

To be sure, the anti-defection law does not apply to municipal bodies, which means members are free to vote for any candidate, irrespective of party affiliations.

Civic Centre’s previous three attempts to elect a mayor – on January 6, January 24 and February 6 – all ended in abject chaos, delaying a routine administrative process by weeks and leaving the new corporation without a mayor for XX days after the polls.

During the first meeting, unfettered physical brawls between AAP and BJP members over aldermen being sworn in before councillors forced the pro-tem speaker, BJP’s Gautampuri councillor Satya Sharma, to adjourn the House.

The city’s 250 councillors were, eventually, sworn in during the next meeting on January 24. However, the House was adjourned without a mayor being elected after another full-blown tussle between members, prompting the AAP and BJP to trade blame.

A third meeting, on February 6, also ended in ignominy after a host of controversial decisions by Sharma, including allowing aldermen to vote in the mayoral polls. The developments saw allegations and counter-allegations of poaching and violations of constitutional norms, with the house eventually being adjourned and the mayoral polls postponed.

This prompted the AAP’s Oberoi to move the Supreme Court later that day, seeking that the 10 aldermen not be allowed to vote and that the mayoral polls and elections to the civic body’s standing committee be held separately, but within a deadline.

On Friday, the bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and comprising justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, said, “The Constitution of India Article 243R has imposed restriction in terms of which nominated members who are brought in will not have right to vote. The same restriction finds statutory recognition in Section 3 of the DMC [Delhi Municipal Corporation] Act.”

The electoral college for the mayoral poll includes 250 elected councillors, seven members of the Lok Sabha from Delhi, three members of the Rajya Sabha and a fifth of the members of the Delhi assembly (14 MLAs) nominated by the speaker by rotation every year.

Speaker Ram Niwas Goel has nominated 13 AAP MLAs and one BJP MLA for representation in the MCD.

Besides the 134 councillors, the AAP has three Rajya Sabha MPs, and 13 MLAs in the electoral college (150 votes), whereas the BJP has 105 councillors, seven Lok Sabha MPs and one MLA (113 votes).

The AAP said it will end the “harassment and corrupt practices” of the BJP.

“Every person in Delhi is fully aware that the MCD is being ruled directly by the central government through the lieutenant governor, the special officer and the commissioner,” the AAP said in a statement.

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Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, in turn, alleged that the AAP will try to disrupt the House, adding that the results of the mayoral election could “shock and surprise” the Capital Delhi’s ruling party.

“They will disrupt the house… We hope that the AAP will adhere to the true spirit of the Supreme Court judgement and hold elections for the standing committee as well as constitute the 12 zonal committees,” he said.

All financial decisions of the corporation as well as policy matters are first approved by the standing committee. The committee has 18 members, with six members elected directly and 12 members elected by the 12 zonal committees of the municipality.

Presiding Officer Satya Sharma comment sought and awaited