BJP’s mayor, Ghaziabad party president spar over interference in House proceedings

Ghaziabad mayor Sunita Dayal alleged that the withdrawals and celebrations took place when the House was not in session

The rift between Ghaziabad mayor Sunita Dayal and the city president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mayank Goel, came out in the open on Monday after Dayal alleged that Goel interfered in the proceedings of the municipal corporation’s House and marked premature victory celebrations for candidates in the election to the corporation’s executive committee.

The process for filing nomination, scrutiny, any withdrawals of nomination, were all scheduled for the day. However, after the issue erupted, the Mayor cancelled the entire process. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The corporation had scheduled a meeting at Kavi Nagar Ramlila Grounds to elect six members of the new executive committee. The venue was shifted there after the corporation’s premises were damaged in an electrical short-circuit in July.

Dayal, who is also BJP’s state vice president, said, “During the proceedings on Monday, the House took a small tea break, and in between, the names of two councillors (one from BJP and one from BSP) were withdrawn. This left six candidates, with five from the BJP and one from the Congress, in the fray. Later, during the break, the city president reached the dais and marked victory celebrations with the remaining candidates while declaring them as winners.”

She alleged that the withdrawals and celebrations took place when the House was not in session. “I and the municipal commissioner were on a tea break and not in chairs. In between all this happened. This is a clear, unprecedented violation of the sanctity of the House and encroachment upon the affairs of the House by the city president. He has no role whatsoever in interfering with the proceedings of the House and should have confined himself to conducting his party activities. Once I got to know about the developments, I cancelled Monday’s meeting, which will be held at a later date now. However, before that, the party will need to take strict action into the act, and I will apprise the senior party leaders about this,” Dayal added.

For the election, Goel had on August 31 proposed names of five BJP councillors for the executive committee. On Monday, three more nominations were filed, including one more from BJP and one each from BSP and Congress, officials said.

Responding to Dayal’s allegations, Goel said he was not present in the House during the incident. “I was in an adjacent administrative room. I do not know how the nominations were withdrawn. I was in the room when the six councillors arrived and asked me to celebrate their victory. I congratulated them and also asked them if we should go to the mayor and congratulate her as well. Furthermore, I do not know what had happened during the tea break. I did not interfere in the House proceedings at all, and I was in a separate room with our party functionaries,” he said.

The rift widened further over a letter that recently went viral on social media. The letter, dated July 25 and purportedly written by the mayor, was addressed to Goel and sought action against councillors who staged protests at the municipal corporation headquarters for the immediate release of official minutes of the June 30 meeting. The mayor had claimed the House rejected a proposed property tax hike at that meeting.

HT could not independently verify the letter’s authenticity.

On Monday, Dayal declined comment on the letter controversy but alleged that it was made viral by Goel. “I had written the correct position in the letter, and it is up to the party to decide,” she said. Goel denied involvement. “I never make public any letters or party communications. It probably leaked from the other side,” he added.