A day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members clashed in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House, the two parties lodged complaints against each other with the Delhi Police.
Earlier on Friday, AAP and BJP members shoved, punched, and kicked each other in the MCD House. Visuals of the clashes showed the chamber in chaos as some also damaged the infrastructure of the House during the fight.
A senior police offer said the police have registered complaints with Delhi Police following clashes between councillors in the MCD House and further action will be taken accordingly, said a senior police officer.
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Both the AAP and BJP have blamed each other for the violence. While the two sides broke into a ruckus in three previous sessions as well, this is the most serious instance where injuries have also been reported. A councillor, Ashok Manu, collapsed and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
What happened in MCD House?
The AAP and BJP members entered into a fight on Friday when the six-member standing committee of MCD was being elected. It began after Mayor Shelly Oberoi declared one vote invalid.
The election process for the six members of the Standing Committee began at around 11 am and concluded at 2:30 pm. The counting began 10 minutes later and went on for over two hours. Oberoi then told members that one vote is invalid and result will be declared without it, a move that was strongly opposed by BJP members.
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The mayor's decision led to the House falling into chaos as councillors from the BJP and the AAP started shouting and pushing one another.
Both the AAP and BJP have blamed each other for the violence. In visuals, members from both the parties are seen pushing each other and vandalising.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Atishi alleged that BJP members got agitated and attacked the Delhi mayor when they sensed their party would lose the election. The mayor had to run out of the House, she said.
"Today is a black day. Mockery of Constitution was done and today, the House saw a black day. We called the BJP councillors and asked them about their demands and we got reelection done but still they attacked me," Oberoi told reporters.
However, in one video, Atishi is seen talking to a woman who moments later enters a crowd and starts pushing and shoving and the BJP has alleged that Atishi had tutored the woman.
All ballot papers have been torn and reelection of members of the Standing Committee will be held again on February 27, said Oberoi.
Some BJP members also flashed posters with slogans such as 'Tanashahi nahin chalegi' and a few councillors were seen with kurtas torn. Pankaj Luthra, a BJP councillor, alleged that it was AAP's fault that led to the chaos in the House.
"When you lost the elections, you started attacking our mayor. The whole nation is watching this attitude and action of the BJP. They tore ballot papers and we did re-election but when they lost, they attacked," Atishi told PTI.
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[https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1629125649402298370]
Atishi alleged that men BJP councillors attacked Oberoi outside the House as well, adding that the party will take legal action against those involved.
AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said, "What we witnessed today is just not imaginable. As soon as the mayor started announcing the results, BJP councillors started attacking our mayor and the civil defence staff. She somehow escaped and one of the civil defence personnel showed her hand which had bite marks. The way they attacked our mayor, we will take legal action."
Booth capturing cannot be imagined in Delhi, the AAP leader said.
In one video, BJP councillor Rekha Gupta also appeared to be vandalising a podium and uprooting and swining a mic.
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BJP councillor Shika Rai alleged that Oberoi declared the vote invalid and AAP councillors started abusing BJP members. "I agree what happened is not acceptable but we did it in self defence," Rai told PTI.
After the voting, the officers from the election commission made a sheet and gave it to the mayor but when the mayor saw that the seats have been won by the BJP, one of the poll agents of the AAP took out a vote and said it is invalid, she alleged.
Not the first ruckus in MCD House
This is the fifth time MCD House was adjoured over a ruckus between AAP and BJP members.
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Earlier, three sessions of MCD House were adjourned over ruckus in a month's time during which the Mayor and Deputy Mayor could not be elected.
The Mayor and Deputy Mayor were elected on Wedesday after a Supreme Court order in the fourth session of the MCD House.
Earlier on Wednesday too, the two sides had clashed in the MCD House and exchanged blows and hurled water bottles at each other. The BJP members also chanted Hanuman Chalisa in MCD House and raised Jai Shri Ram slogans.
Earlier on February 6, the MCD House was adjourned for the third time in a month without electing the Mayor of Delhi.
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Earlier on January 24, a ruckus between AAP and 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 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.
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.
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(With PTI inputs)
