March meeting to decide fate of 9 MCD standing committee members

A draw of lots will decide the fate of half the members of the standing committee, impacting the power dynamics between AAP and BJP.

The fate of half of the standing committee’s 18 members will be decided by a draw of lots in the last meeting of the financial year to be held later this month, officials said. The key committee, which controls the civic body’s purse strings, was formed last year after two years of legal and political conflict between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

A senior civic official said 50% of the members will retire from the standing committee (HT)

A senior civic official said 50% of the members will retire from the standing committee. “The retirement of members through a draw of lots will determine the power equation in the standing committee. Both parties will try to get their members re-elected. Of the 18-member standing committee, six are elected from the House, while 12 are elected from the zone committees.”

According to MCD rules, each standing committee member has a two-year term, but after the first year, half the members retire through a draw of lots. “As March marks the end of the financial year, the standing committee meeting this month will see three of the six members elected from the House retire through a draw of lots. The same process will then determine the retirement of six of the 12 members elected from the zonal committees,” the official said.

The new members from the House will be decided through a draw of lots in April-May, while those from the ward committees will be picked in May-June through a draw of lots. Currently, three of the six members elected from the House are from the BJP and three from the AAP. Of the 12 ward committees, eight are from the BJP and four from the AAP.

The BJP has a clear majority in the House with 123 members against AAP’s 101. The fate of the panel will rest on the slips drawn. “If the three retiring members of the standing committee are from the BJP in the draw of lots, the BJP can win back two members based on its current strength, but winning the third one will be difficult. Conversely, if all three AAP members are eliminated through the draw of lots, the BJP can win two members based on its numerical strength,” he added.

However, the equations in the BJP-ruled zones of Narela and South have changed after the by-elections. In the South zone, BJP’s Jagmohan Singh won the standing committee seat last time, but AAP’s victory in Deoli in the by-election and Congress’s victory in Sangam Vihar, a BJP-held seat, have altered the equations. Similarly, the victory of an AAP candidate in the BJP-held Narela zone will ensure that the contest for the new members will be a close one.