MCD house adjourned amid uproar; committee polls next month

Leader of Opposition in the MCD, Ankush Narang, had earlier claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had reduced the number of members in the scheduled caste committee from 35 to 21 in order to ensure that the committee’s chairman is from the BJP.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) during a special session on Thursday constituted 12 special and 11 ad-hoc committees, after the nominations for all were declared to be valid. The session, however, was adjourned soon after Aam Aadmi Party councillors staged a protest against the reduction of members in the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Implementation of Scheduled Castes Candidates Quota ad-hoc committee.

AAP councillors protest during the MCD House Session on Thursday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

Leader of Opposition in the MCD, Ankush Narang, had earlier claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had reduced the number of members in the scheduled caste committee from 35 to 21 in order to ensure that the committee’s chairman is from the BJP.

Protesting against the same, AAP councillors held up placards and chanted slogans when the leader of the House presented the proposal for the nomination of three members each to the SC and education committees.

Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh held a press conference after the session, stating that the AAP had the chance to discuss the issue in the previous session but did not do so. “When the AAP was in power in MCD for 2.5 years, it deliberately did not allow the formation of Special and Ad-hoc Committees,” he said.

Indraprastha Vikas Party councillor Mukesh Goyal said that “if the AAP is so concerned about the interests of Dalit councillors, they should have gotten their Dalit councillors nominated for other committees, which they haven’t done.” He added that the BJP should have held a discussion with the Opposition parties before reducing the number of members in the SC committee.

July 31 is the last date for the filling nominations for the posts of chairperson and vice-chairpersons of the special and ad-hoc committees. Elections for the same will be held on August 6 and 7.

Special committees have been formed on medical relief and public health, appointment, promotion, disciplinary and allied matters, environment management service, and other issues. Ad-hoc committees have been formed on community services, anti-malaria measures, the naming and renaming of streets, and other issues.

This comes after a more than two and a half year delay in the formation of the MCD’s standing committee, caused by legal and political disputes. The delay had led to a large number of important processes remaining in limbo, including the formation of the special and ad-hoc committees.