Delhi Mayor election on hold for now as House adjourned amid clash between AAP and BJP councillors

The AAP councillors and MLAs protested over the alderman and not the elected representatives being administered oath first

Elections for the Delhi Mayor and Deputy Mayor did not take place on Friday as scheduled, as the maiden meeting of the MCD House adjourned without much business following protests by AAP councillors over administering oath first to nominated members.

The next date of the meeting of the MCD House was not announced with BJP councillor Satya Sharma, who was appointed by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena as presiding officer to oversee the process, saying the schedule will be made known soon.

Sharma said they will resume the meeting soon and the rest of the aldermen will take their oaths first. Four nominated councillors managed to take oath on Friday.

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The House had to be adjourned as AAP Councillors and MLAs entered the Well of the House protesting against administering oath to 10 aldermen who were nominated by the LG first and not the elected councillors. BJP MLAs countered the AAP protest with counter-sloganeering leading to chaos in the House.

Both sides accused each other of manhandling. The protest started when Sharma called Manoj Kumar to take the oath.

As the protest continued with some AAP councillors climbing the tables, including that of the presiding officer, the oathtaking was stopped. The Congress, which has nine councillors, had announced that it will take part in the voting.

In the elections to the MCD held last month, AAP had won 134 out of 250 seats while the BJP had won 104 seats and Congress nine in a House of 250 councillors. Three independents also won the elections held on December 4 last year.

The MCD House comprises 250 elected councillors. The BJP's seven Lok Sabha MPs from Delhi and the AAP's three Rajya Sabha MPs as well as 14 MLAs nominated by the Delhi Assembly Speaker will also participate in the elections to the posts of mayor and deputy mayor.

AAP MLA and chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said that nominated members never cast their votes in the mayoral election. "Neither in the mayor election nor in the deputy mayor election. They are not allowed to cast votes for standing committee members as well. The BJP is trying to increase the number of its votes by the wrong means," he alleged.

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari targeted the AAP saying, "Why are they scared to face the elections? It again proves that they have no faith in established rules and norms."