LG bypassed govt while appointing 10 aldermen, says Kejriwal

Kejriwal alleged that the nominations were done to “rig the composition of the standing committee”, and added, “The will of the electorate is being subverted to help the ruling party at the Centre”.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia on Thursday termed the nomination of 10 aldermen to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) “unconstitutional”.

The MCD Civic Centre in New Delhi. (File)

In a letter to lieutenant governor VK Saxena, the chief minister said that the state government was “bypassed in the nomination process”, and that the LG should reconsider the decision and withdraw the notification.

Kejriwal alleged that the nominations were done to “rig the composition of the standing committee”, and added, “The will of the electorate is being subverted to help the ruling party at the Centre”.

“The attempt in the present instance appears to be to influence the process of elections to the standing committee of the Municipal Corporation by the nomination of these members. It is pertinent to note that these 10 members have been intentionally chosen to represent three zones out of the 12 zones of the MDC since one member of the standing committee gets chosen from each zone, the attempt quite clearly is to ensure that the composition of the committee is skewed in favour of the persons owing allegiance to the ruling party at the Centre and thereby subvert the will of the electorate in the recently concluded elections to the municipal corporations,” Kejriwal said.

Though the aldermen do not have voting rights in the MCD House, they can vote as members of the ward committees to elect one standing committee member from each of the 12 MCD zones.

The LG office did not comment on the Kejriwal letter. However, while responding to similar allegations by AAP MLA Atishi on Wednesday officials in the LG office said that the lietuenant governor is empowered by the law to nominate aldermen. Citing the amended DMC Act, 2022, the officials added that the LG was not bound by the suggestions of the state government in such matters.

Kejriwal said that the list of nominees is usually sent by the state government’s urban development department. But in the present case, the MCD commissioner sent the file directly to the LG office. “This stands contrary to the division of powers in Delhi as well as against the judgment of the Supreme Court’s Constitution bench. No stone is being left unturned and no effort is being spared to interfere with and impede the day-to-day administration and functioning of Delhi government,” it adds.

Deputy CM Sisodia, who also holds the urban development portfolio, wrote to the MCD Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti asking him to desist from taking any further action with regard to swearing-in the “illegal nominees”.

”Ten persons have been nominated to MCD without sending the nomination file through the urban development department. I am the competent authority in the matter who has been completely bypassed. This nomination is contrary to Article 239AA of the Constitution as well as to the interpretation made by the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court,” he said.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor has said that the letter by Kejriwal is the “proof of his political desperation”. “If the chief minister had sought information from the law department, he would have been told that according to the amended Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, the corporation is answerable to the central government and LG is free to take decisions related to the municipal corporation,” said Kapoor.