Delhi mayor polls see high drama; AAP, BJP councillors clash

Marshals had to be called in to control the situation as soon as the presiding officer invited an alderman to take oath first. The AAP, which had been questioning the appointment of the aldermen right from the beginning, objected to it and rushed towards the well.

High drama unfolded at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) house as the newly elected councillors of Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party resorted to sloganeering.

Marshals had to be called in to control the situation as soon as the presiding officer invited an alderman to take oath first. The AAP, which had been questioning the appointment of the aldermen right from the beginning, objected to it and rushed towards the well.

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AAP and BJP councillors resort to sloganeering at MCD Sadan in New Delhi. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Aldermen are experts in the fields and are nominated to the House. But they don't have voting rights. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had written to lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, claiming that the manner in which the ten aldermen were nominated was unconstitutional.

“It is, therefore, unfortunate that recently, in a complete departure from this settled practice, files were routed directly by the MCD - Commissioner to the Lieutenant Governor completely bypassing the Delhi government. This is contrary to law and the Constitution”, the letter read.

The ruckus comes on a day when the Municipal Corporation of Delhi house will elect mayor and deputy mayor. The AAP has fielded Shelly Oberoi and Ashu Thakur, while Rekha Gupta is in the mayoral race from the BJP. In the race for deputy mayor's post, AAP's Aaley Mohammad Iqbal and Jalaj Kumar are pitted against Kamal Bagri of the BJP.

The post of mayor sees five single-year terms on a rotation basis, with the first year being reserved for women, the second for open category, third for reserved category, and the remaining two also being in the open category.