The Municipal Corporation of Delhi House (MCD House) was adjourned on Monday for the third time without electing the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Delhi.
Earlier, the MCD House was convened twice for the purpose of mayoral election, but a ruckus between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members led to the suspension of proceedings on both the occasions.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi House (MCD House) was adjourned on Monday for the third time without electing the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Delhi.
Earlier on Monday, MCD Presiding Officer Satya Sharma said the elections for Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Standing Committee members will be held simultaneously. He also said aldermen allowed to vote in mayoral polls.
This is the third time in a month's time that the MCD House has been adjourned without electing Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Earlier on January 24, a ruckus between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members led to the adjournment of the house. Before that, on January 6, the MCD House was adjourned because of a similar ruckus.
The Monday's session is the third sesssion of the MCD House so far. The MCD elections were held on December 4 and results came out on December 7. The AAP emerged as a winner in MCD polls with 134 of the total 250 seats. The BJP won 104 and the Congress won nine seats.
The Mayor and the Deputy Mayor of Delhi are to be elected in the very first session of the House that convenes after the civic polls, according to the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, 1957. However, it's been two months since the municipal elections were held and Delhi is yet to get a mayor.
While the first session of the 250-member House went in vain, the nominated members and elected members took oath in the second session.
After the oath-taking exercise, the second session was adjourned till the next date by Presiding Officer and BJP councillor Satya Sharma.
While BJP members had walked out of the chamber shouting slogans against the AAP and its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, the ruling party members refused to budge from their seats and held a peaceful protest in the House for nearly five hours.
Before dispersing from the Civic Centre, senior leaders of the AAP, including Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, told reporters that by "not allowing" the mayoral election to take place, the BJP was "strangulating democracy" and "starting a dangerous tradition".
AAP leader and party MLA Atishi had appealed to Lt Governor V K Saxena to ensure the election for mayor, deputy mayor and six members of the standing committee is held at the earliest.
"I am hopeful that this time the mayoral election will be conducted. The BJP is levelling allegations against us because they are not sure. We have the mandate, and we are feeling confident today. Let's hope for the best," AAP mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi told PTI ahead of House proceedings on Monday.
Even before the session started, Deputy Chief Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia alleged the BJP has instructed its councillors to create a ruckus like the last time to stall the mayoral elections.
Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva retorted, saying it is the AAP which has asked its councillors to do so and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be responsible if the House is adjourned.
Shelly Oberoi and Ashu Thakur are the AAP's contenders for the post of mayor. The BJP has nominated Rekha Gupta.
The nominees for the post of deputy mayor are Aaley Mohammad Iqbal and Jalaj Kumar (AAP) and Kamal Bagri (BJP).
Besides the mayor and the deputy mayor, six members of the MCD's standing committee are also slated to be elected during the municipal House.
The post of mayor in Delhi sees five single-year terms on a rotation basis, with the first year being reserved for women, second for the open category, third for the reserved category, and the remaining two also being for the open category.
(With PTI inputs)