Point of disorder: AAP to move SC

As the MCD House was adjourned for the third time without holding the elections for the mayor, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday said that it will approach the Supreme Court and demand court-monitored polls even as it slammed the ruling by the presiding officer, a BJP councillor, that aldermen should be allowed to vote

As the MCD House was adjourned for the third time without holding the elections for the mayor, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday said that it will approach the Supreme Court and demand court-monitored polls even as it slammed the ruling by the presiding officer, a BJP councillor, that aldermen should be allowed to vote.

BJP councillors shout slogan against AAP councillors at the civic centre in New Delhi on Monday. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

Announcing the party’s decision to approach the top court, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the presiding officer’s decision was unconstitutional, “Allowing nominated councillors to vote is illegal and unconstitutional. Article 243R (Composition of Municipalities) of the Constitution states that the legislature of state may, by law, provide representation in the municipality of persons having special knowledge or experience to municipal administration. However, persons referred to in this para shall not have the right to vote in the meeting of the municipality. It is written in the Constitution as well as in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act but still the presiding officer of BJP asked the aldermen to vote in the mayor elections. This is unconstitutional and unlawful.”

The party did not file a formal petition in the top court till late Monday evening. This will be the second time that the AAP will raise the issue of mayor elections in the Supreme Court. AAP’s mayor candidate Shelley Oberoi had filed a petition in the top court on January 1, demanding that the polls be held in a time-bound manner. She, however, withdrew the plea last Friday after the LG announced the date of the House meeting.

Voting by aldermen has emerged as the main contention between the AAP and the BJP over the mayor election. Both parties have cited a 2015 Delhi high court order in support of their argument. While the AAP argues that the court allowed the aldermen to vote only in ward committees, and not in the House, the BJP has cited the same order to claim that the 10 members nominated by LG have the right to vote in the House.

Besides voting by aldermen, the presiding officer raised two more points evoking sharp reactions by AAP members. Sharma called for simultaneous elections for the posts of mayor, deputy mayor and six standing committee members and asked two AAP MLAs to go out of the House and not participate in the elections.

Sisodia said both points made by the presiding officer were not in accordance with the law. AAP MP Sanjay Singh argued that since the court has suspended the sentence against the two MLAs, they must be allowed to vote.

“It is clearly written (in the law) that the presiding officer will conduct the elections for the mayor, and after that, the deputy mayor and the standing committee members will be elected under the chairmanship of the mayor. It is clearly written in the Constitution that after the mayor is elected, further decisions are taken by the mayor and not the presiding officer,” Sisodia said.

He also termed Sharma’s decision of not allowing AAP MLAs Sanjeev Jha and Akhilesh Pati Tripathi to vote as unconstitutional.

Presiding officer Sharma said maintained that all her decisions are in accordance with the Constitution, and added that she will accept the orders of the Supreme Court.

Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva accused the AAP leaders and councillors of defying the instructions of the presiding officer. “It is in the public domain that a 2016 Delhi high court order clearly states that nominated aldermen will also be members of the House and can contest elections to the standing committee of the corporation. So, the question arises that when the court has given them the right to contest the elections for the standing committee, why can’t they vote?” Sachdeva said.

The deputy CM, however, said that the BJP is scared of contesting mayor elections since they were sure of their defeat. “The BJP is scared that if the AAP mayor is elected, all their misdeeds and corruption will be exposed. The AAP mayor will ensure the development of Delhi and make it clean, but BJP is not letting the mayor elections happen. The results of the MCD elections were declared on December 7, 2022. It has been two months and still, the BJP is not letting the mayor elections take place,” he said.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that before moving the Supreme Court, the AAP should give an undertaking that they will abide by the verdict. “If AAP moves court, then it should give a commitment to abide by court’s decision, as past experiences show that if the court order goes against them, they condemn the court too.”

The AAP has a majority in the MCD House, with 134 out of 250 members. The BJP has 105 councillors, while Congress has nine councillors and there are two independent members.

The electoral college for the mayoral poll includes 250 elected councillors, seven members of the Lok Sabha from Delhi, three members of the Rajya Sabha and 1/5th of the members of the Delhi assembly (14 MLAs) nominated by the speaker by rotation every year. Speaker Ram Niwas Goel has nominated 13 AAP MLAs and one BJP MLA for representation in the MCD.

Besides the 134 councillors, the AAP has three Rajya Sabha MPs, and 13 MLAs in the electoral college (150 votes), whereas the BJP has 105 councillors, seven Lok Sabha MPs and one MLA (113 votes). In addition, there are 10 persons nominated by the lieutenant governor, called aldermen. According to the DMC Act, they do not have voting rights in the House, though the presiding officer said she would allow them to vote.