Ruckus delays Delhi mayor polls again

For the second time this month, voting for the mayoral post of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has been postponed after ruckus between members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and BJP broke out in the parliament house.

On Tuesday, the MCD House was adjourned without electing the mayor and deputy mayor, reports India Today.

Earlier the same day, the Presiding Officer Satya Sharma administered the oath to the newly nominated members by Lt governor in the MCD House.

After the oath taking ceremony, when the process for voting for the mayoral election was about to start, AAP councillor Mukesh Goyal raised objections, saying that the nominated members do not have the right to vote in the mayoral poll.

Mukesh Goyal further demanded the nominated members be taken out of the House. His remark led to protests by the BJP councillors which led to a ruckus in the House. Presiding Officer Satya Sharma then adjourned the House without electing the mayor and deputy mayor.

BJP councillor Rajpal Singh claimed that AAP leaders misbehaved with party MP Gautam Gambhir. Rajpal Singh alleged that the BJP councillors objected to it, which led to a ruckus, following which the MCD House was adjourned.

Meanwhile, AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj demanded the mayoral election to be held today itself. He claimed that the BJP is scared as an AAP candidate is sure to win the mayor post.

“The people of Delhi elected AAP and BJP is not allowing mayor election. This is dishonesty,” Saurabh Bhardwaj said on Tuesday.

This is the second time in a month that the election to Delhi mayor was disrupted. On January 6, the mayoral elections at the MCD House was postponed after clashes erupted between AAP and BJP councillors.

The AAP has fielded Shelly Oberoi and Ashu Thakur as their candidates 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 for the AAP and Kamal Bagri for the BJP.