Indus Valley Times

NEW DELHI,Jan 6: AAP and BJP councillors clashed over the appointment of 10 aldermen by Lt Governor VK Saxena as the first meeting of the newly elected Municipal Corporation of Delhi House began on Friday.

The meeting began with BJP councillor Satya Sharma being administered the oath as presiding officer for the elections to the posts of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) mayor and deputy mayor.

After Sharma invited alderman Manoj Sharma to take his oath, AAP MLAs and councillors began to protest.

Many also rushed to the well of the House, shouting slogans. The BJP councillors retaliated by raising slogans against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal as AAP members returned fire by sloganeering against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The AAP has alleged that Saxena has appointed BJP leaders who were not experts in civic issues as aldermen.

Aldermen, an old English word, refers to people who are experts in their fields. However, they do not have voting rights in the mayoral election. Ten aldermen were nominated to the MCD ahead of the mayoral poll.

Recall ‘unconstitutional’ MCD nominations: Delhi CM writes to L-G

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a letter to Saxena on Thursday, registered his protest on the issue.

Kejriwal said in his letter that “it is pertinent to note that these 10 members (the aldermen) have been intentionally chosen to represent three zones out of 12 of the municipal corporation” which he said appears to be an attempt “to influence the process of elections to the Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation.”

Kejriwal alleged that since one member of the standing committee gets chosen from each zone, “the attempt quite clearly is to ensure that the composition of the panel is skewed in favour of the persons belonging or owing allegiance to the ruling party at the Centre and thereby subvert the will of the electorate in the recently concluded elections to the municipal corporations.”

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia wrote to MCD Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti over the “bypassing of elected state government” during the nominations of aldermen and directed him to desist from taking any further action in regard.

The MCD House comprises 250 elected councillors.

The BJP’s seven Lok Sabha MPs from Delhi and the AAP’s three Rajya Sabha MPs and 14 MLAs nominated by the Delhi Assembly Speaker will also participate in the elections to the posts of mayor and deputy mayor.

Six members of the standing committee will also be elected.

The Congress, which has nine councillors, has decided not to take part in the voting.

-PTI