The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has reportedly blamed the Aam Aadmi Party for not administering oath to the councilors in the House and not electing the mayor, deputy mayor and members of the standing committee.

According to a report in Amar Ujala, the MCD, in its report to the Lieutenant Governor, said that the AAP members created ruckus, obstructing the proceedings of the House. Apart from this, they ransacked the House and also tore papers. The MCD has not recommended action against any member, but has urged to fix a date for the meeting of the House.

The publication quoted its sources as saying that the MCD on Monday prepared a report over ruckus in the House on Friday, following which it was sent to L-G VK Saxena in the evening. Along with the report, the MCD has sent a video footage of the uproar in the House.

The MCD has written in its report that the presiding officer Satya Sharma, after taking the oath, started the proceedings as per the agenda of the meeting. AAP members started opposing his decision.

The AAP councillors and MLAs raised slogans and entered the Well when Sharma began the process of administering oaths to the 10 aldermen. The AAP members were protesting against administering oaths to the alderman, and not the elected representatives, first.

The oathtaking was stopped and the meeting disrupted as the AAP councillors stood on the tables, including those of the presiding officer.

The AAP members got into heated arguments with their BJP counterparts, who retaliated by raising slogans against the AAP and its convener Arvind Kejriwal. Amid the chaos, both sides alleged manhandling by the other camp.

Why AAP is Facing Trouble in Mayoral Polls Despite Winning MCD

The Aam Aadmi Party is facing problems in getting their mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members elected smoothly, despite having a majority in the house and bagging 134 seats in municipal elections.

A report in Times of India quoted experts as saying that the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act has complicated the exercise and other political parties faced similar challenges in the past.

The report quoted SK Sharma, former secretary in the Delhi assembly, as saying that the corporation works as per the DMC Act because it is not a legislature.

“The Constitution guides only the legislature such as assembly and Parliament where laws are made. In the municipal corporation, rules and sub-rules specified in the act are emphasised upon. The amended DMC Act, 2022 has given all powers to the Centre or in other words to the LG, which has made things difficult for AAP. It has clearly specified that the LG will appoint 10 aldermen. Similarly, 14 MLAs are nominated by the assembly speaker,” said Sharma.

“In the case of Delhi, which happens to be a Union territory, LG has been vested with major powers in comparison to the elected government,” Subhash Kashyap, a constitutional expert, was quoted.

Kashyap was further quoted as saying that the “trial of strength” was the main reason behind Friday’s incident. “After results also, BJP claimed that the mayor will be from their party. It is assumed that AAP had this fear that the statement might come true, which is why they were opposing the oath of nominated members despite having a majority,” he added.

The anti-defection law, the the case of MCD, is not in force so cross-voting of councillors is possible. In 2014, Congress councillor Praveen Rana was elected deputy mayor of the erstwhile south corporation with the support of Independents even though BJP was in power.

When Will MCD House Meet Next?

The process of holding the next meeting will take time as saying MCD officials said that the entire procedure for the mayoral election will be repeated. A file was sent to the LG’s office on Monday seeking a new date for the mayoral elections and describing the reasons for holding the ceremony again.

Now, the process for nominating the presiding officer would also be taken up again and MCD would provide the names of the elected councillors eligible for the role, another Times of India report quoted LG VK Saxena’s office as saying.

Once the new date is finalised, the municipal secretary’s office will need to give at least 72 hours’ notice to the parties for the elections, and write to Delhi Police for security, in addition to making other arrangements at the MCD headquarters, Civic Centre. “Considering the councillors are elected members, their oath-taking ceremony will be done as per tradition,” said the civic official.

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