MCD panel: 9 members retire after draw of lots

Nine members from BJP and AAP were retired from Delhi's MCD after a draw, despite opposition protests. Financial decisions are on hold until new members are elected.

Six Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members were retired from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) after official process of drawing the lots was completed on Tuesday despite protests by the Opposition. The committee will now be on pause till new members are selected, with financial-related decisions that fall solely under its purview on hold till then.

MCD panel: 9 members retire after draw of lots

The draw of lots process had earlier been delayed by the chairperson and were not completed during the Monday committee meeting when it was abruptly adjourned amid protests by the AAP. The committee then had just one day left — the last day of the financial year —to complete the process under MCD rules to avoid creating potential for a statutory crisis.

At the beginning of the meeting held on Tuesday, AAP members again submitted their objection to the chair, arguing that the process was illegal as minutes of the previous meeting had not been confirmed as per the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, and the agenda for holding the draw of lots process had not been passed.

The full standing committee has 18 members of whom six are elected from the MCD House, while 12 are elected from the zone committees. Prior to the drawing to the lots, six members elected from the House are from the BJP and the others from AAP. Of the other 12, eight belonged to the BJP and four to the AAP.

Nine members who were retired after drawing the lots were drawn on Tuesday, said chairperson Satya Sharma. Of members elected from ward committees, this included AAP councillor Ankush Narang, who is the leader of the Opposition in the MCD House, as well as BJP councillors Shikha Bhardwaj, Inderjeet Sehrawat, Neema Bhagat, Rajpal Singh, and Anju Devi.

“Additionally, out of six members elected from the House, the slips of three members—Aam Aadmi Party councillors Mohammad Aamil Malik and Mohini Jeenwal, and BJP councillor Pankaj Luthra were also drawn,” she said.

To ensure that the process is completed, BJP had deployed the northwest MP Yogendra Chandoliya as an observer while the committee room had heavy presence of guards to avert any protests.

Under 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. Official said that unique drawing of lots of process is only carried out once in the five year cycle of the corporation — at the end of the first year of the standing committee. At the end of next financial year, the remaining nine members will automatically retire.

MCD officials said that three of the nine vacant seats will be filled through direct election in house of councillors along with the election of mayor in April. “The remaining six members will be elected from zonal wards committee. All nine members are likely to be in place by May,” an official explained.