New Delhi: Councillors were drunk. Many carried blades. Hair yanked and thrown to the floor.
Allegations flew thick and fast Friday when AAP and BJP councillors of Delhi’s newly-elected civic body met to vote in the capital’s next mayor.
But matters came to such an unruly head that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House had to be adjourned until further notice.
The trouble started at Delhi’s S.P. Mukherjee Civic Centre when Satya Sharma – the temporary Speaker appointed by Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena – tried to first swear in the nominated members, also called aldermen.
AAP councillors rushed to the well and demanded that elected representatives be sworn in first.
AAP, which unseated the BP in the civic elections a month ago, had initially objected to Saxena nominating the 10 MCD members without consulting its government. The LG is the Centre’s representative in Delhi and reports to the Union Home Minister.
AAP boss and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has accused Saxena of trying to help the BJP by intentionally picking 10 nominated members who are affiliated to it. In the present 250-seat House, AAP has 134 councillors while the BJP has 104.
Clashes in House
The pushing, jostling, shouting and name-calling continued for hours in the House on Friday.
Some of the BJP men shouted “Loktantra ka hatyara Kejriwal” and “Shapath lene do Kejriwal”, while others alleged that AAP councillors tried to harm them with sharp objects like blades etc.
BJP’s women councillors said they had been pushed to the ground and their hair pulled.
BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri said AAP leaders had started the ruckus. “As soon as nominated members were called to take the oath, they broke the mic and started shouting slogans. They physically assaulted our councillors and indulged in hooliganism.”
Several Delhi BJP leaders, including Pravesh Verma and Harish Khurana, alleged that AAP councillors were drunk and carried blades.
On the other hand, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj took to Twitter to share an alleged attack on a colleague.
हमारे पार्षद पर MCD सदन में जानलेवा हमला हुआ। हमले में भाजपा के पार्षद शामिल pic.twitter.com/GlUI691qEL
— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) January 6, 2023
The candidates and the process
The AAP fielded former Delhi University teacher Shelly Oberoi, along with Ashu Thakur, for the mayor’s post while BJP nominated three-term councillor from Shalimar Bagh, Rekha Gupta.
Aaley Mohammad Iqbal and Jalaj Kumar are contenders for the deputy mayor’s post from AAP, and the BJP has named Ram Nagar councillor, Kamal Bagri.
The Delhi Congress with nine councilors has decided not to participate in the polls, which means 241 councillors will elect the next mayor.
The 10 nominated members cannot vote in the mayor polls but can do so to elect standing committee members, which is the second-highest decision-making body after the House of councilors.
Since non-administrative decisions cannot be taken in the MCD without the approval of the standing committee, the BJP stands to gain if it can get more of its members elected to this committee.
Party sources told ThePrint they were looking to win 10 out of the 18 seats in the standing committee, out of which 12 are elected through ward elections and 6 through MCD House elections.
AAP’s anger over nominated councillors
On Friday, the AAP accused the BJP of indulging in malpractices as LG-nominated members were being allowed to vote in the House.
MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said: “BJP is destroying the Constitution of India — nominated members cannot vote in the meetings of the corporation; they can vote in ward committees — this is Art 243R and 243S of our Constitution.”
The BJP retaliated by saying the AAP was defiling the Constitution by not allowing the nominated members to take oath.
Earlier on Friday, the AAP had alleged that the Congress was tacitly helping the BJP by staying away from the elections since BJP made MCD Congress leader Nazia Danish member of the Haj Committee.
AAP is also miffed with the LG for making Satya Sharma the presiding officer, overlooking its candidate Mukesh Goyal.
Sharma squarely blamed the AAP for disrupting the House Friday before cancelling the voting till further notice.
Also read: Mass contact, star campaigners — BJP ups the ante as internal evaluation shows MCD vote shortfall