Polls to fill last MCD standing committee seat on Sept 26
MCD has called for nominations to fill a vacant standing committee seat, with elections set for September 26 following Kamaljeet Sehrawat's resignation.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Thursday initiated the process to hold elections for the last vacant seat of the standing committee by inviting nominations for the polls. According to an MCD notification, candidates have been allowed to file their nominations till September 19, while polling will take place during the House of councillors meeting on September 26.
The seat fell vacant after previous member and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor Kamaljeet Sehrawat resigned as the Dwarka-B representative in June this year to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
The MCD secretariat in an order said that Sehrawat’s resignation as councillor “has led to sudden vacancy arising in the standing committee. The term of the standing committee member will start on a date to be fixed by the corporation after the constitution of the committee”.
The order added that according to section 46 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, mayor Shelley Oberoi has decided to fill the vacancy through elections which will be held during the September 26 general meeting.
The standing committee — a powerful panel that controls the purse strings of MCD — comprises 18 members, of whom 12 are elected by zonal wards committees, and the remaining six are directly elected by the house of councillors.
The zonal elections were held earlier this month, with BJP winning seven of the 12 seats and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) getting five.
Last year, in February, polls for the six members directly elected to the panel devolved into chaos and pandemonium after Oberoi, who was chairing the meeting, ruled that a repoll would be held. Later, the BJP took the matter to the Delhi high court, which on May 23 this year set aside Oberoi’s ruling, resulting in both the AAP and BJP securing three seats each.
However, one of the seats that the BJP won fell vacant, as Sehrawat resigned from her post after she was elected the Lok Sabha MP from West Delhi.
An MCD official said the elections will be held through a secret ballot. “Any member can file their nomination with two proposers. The nomination can be withdrawn till any time before the election,” official said.
Unlike the direct elections, in which six seats were at stake, this time, the election will not be held on a preferential voting basis. “In the last election, all members had to list their choices by preference — first, second, third, and so on. Since there is only one vacant seat this time, it will be a direct election with simple majority,” the official added.
Since the AAP has simple majority in the house and aldermen have no role to play, it is very likely that the seat will be won by the AAP. “Such an outcome will lead to both parties securing nine members each in the standing committee,” the official said.
An MCD official said that in case both parties secure nine votes each, a draw of lots is carried out to decide the fate. “Slips with names of both the candidates would be put in a ballot box, and a neutral person acceptable to both the parties will draw a slip, deciding the winner...”the official said.
Ward committees hold meet
On Thursday, several zonal wards committees held their first sets of meeting, marking the beginning of their tenure. These panels are expected to meet twice a week and have powers to sanction projects up to ₹1 crore.
Yogesh Verma, the chairman of the Keshavpuram wards committee, said, “There was enthusiasm among the councillors as the civic problems of the zone can now be flagged. All councillors, deputy commissioners and officers of all departments were present in this meeting.”
Verma added that members raised the problems of cleanliness and waterlogging and in this meeting and instructions were issued cleanliness on the roads. “In the coming days, we will conduct regular inspections in all the wards of the Keshavpuram zone, and compliance reports will be sought,” he said.
Meanwhile, Najafgarh zone chairman Amit Kharkhari said the agenda of the meeting in his zone was stray animals, waterlogging, illegal meat shops, and maintenance of parks. “We have asked officers to prepare a list of all illegal meat shops ward-wise so that further action can be decided,” he said.