Gurugram: Have numbers to remove mayors, say rebel councillors

A day before their meeting divisional commissioner Ashok Kumar Sangwan, councillors of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) seeking removal of the mayor and her two deputies, said they have the requisite numbers to get the motion on vote of no confidence passed.

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The rebel councilors held a series of meetings on Tuesday in sectors 15 and 56 and said they will be meeting the divisional commissioner at his office on Wednesday around 11am to show their strength.

As per Ward 34 councillor RS Rathee, who is leading the movement against the mayor and her two deputies, more than 12 councillors will be present for the meeting with the divisional commissioner.

“Just over two weeks ago, 19 councillors had met with the divisional commissioner and submitted a signed letter demanding that the mayor and her deputies be removed from their position under Section 75 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Rules, 1994. The divisional commissioner has summoned us tomorrow (Wednesday) to show our strength and confirm our signatures in the letter. At least 12 councillors—the minimum required for the divisional commissioner to pass an order for conducting the no-confidence voting— have confirmed that they will be present for tomorrow’s meeting,” Rathee said.

The divisional commissioner did not respond to request for a comment on the matter.

If the divisional commissioner passes the motion for vote of no confidence, then an order will be sent to MCG commissioner Amit Khatri for conducting a meeting on a set date where all 35 MCG councillors would have to be present and vote for or against the motion.

As per the rules, the mayor and her two deputies need the support of 18 councillors to retain their position while votes of 22 councillors against them will lead to their ouster.

Mayor Madhu Azad said it is unlikely that the motion of vote of no confidence would be passed against her and her deputies as the rebel councillors do not have the requisite numbers.

“As far as I know, the fraction of councillors wanting our ouster is just 8-10. Even if they manage to get the numbers (12) for getting the motion passed, we have the requisite strength to continue in office. Regardless, the fraction of councillors does not have any issue with the mayors, but with certain agendas pending with the state government continuing to be ignored. A meeting will be conducted with them separately and the matter will be resolved amicably,” MCG mayor Madhu Azad said.

On December 3, 13 councillors had boycotted the MCG House meeting to protest against the mayors’ decision to exclude seven of their agenda points from the final list. These councillors wanted agendas such as giving executive powers to councillors for approving sanitation work, passing projects costing less than ₹1 crore, hiring and terminating MCG’s outsourced workers, to be included in the December 3rd House meeting.

Subsequently, 19 of them had met with the divisional commissioner and submitted the letter demanding the removal of the three. Since then these councillors have been regularly conducting meetings to decide on future plans and next course of action.

During a meeting held at Sector 15 on December 7, 16 councillors had decided that the next mayor and her deputies will be decided via a lucky draw.

Meanwhile, on Monday and Tuesday, Azad conducted various surprise checks across the city to take stock of the state of public toilets and waste collection and voiced her displeasure on their condition to MCG officials.

BOX

What’s needed to oust mayor, her deputies?

Ensure at least 12 councillors meet with the divisional commissioner Wednesday and confirm their signatures to the letter submitted on December 3 asking for the removal of mayors and her deputies.

Ensure they have at least 22 councillors supporting them during the vote of no-confidence meeting

What’s needed to stay in office?

Ensure less than 12 councillors meet with divisional commissioner on Wednesday to seek their removal, as any number higher will lead to a vote of no confidence meeting being conducted.

Ensure they have at least 18 councillors supporting them during the voting