MCD standing committee polls stalled due to ruckus in House

The election to pick the six members of the standing committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Wednesday got stalled due to an uproar in the House, hours after the new mayor was elected.

The House proceedings began around 11:30 am and business was conducted smoothly as AAP's Shelly Oberoi emerged victorious in the mayoral poll, defeating BJP's Rekha Gupta by a margin of 34 votes.

After the mayoral election, the House was briefly adjourned and then it resumed to elect the deputy mayor, again AAP's Aaley Mohammed Iqbal winning the election, defeating BJP's Kamal Bagri

Mayor Oberoi then adjourned the House for an hour.

However, as the session didn't resume after one hour, BJP councillor Shikha Rai told the municipal secretary that it was getting late and that the mayor be asked to come back to the House.

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Meanwhile, many BJP members chanted 'Hanuman Chalisa' for several minutes, awaiting resumption of the House.

The session finally resumed around 6:15 pm and the proceedings to elect the six members of the MCD panel began.

As the mayor permitted carrying mobile phone to the booth area, BJP members opposed it.

Many of them later trooped to the Well of the House, and chanted anti-Arvind Kejriwal slogans.

"People who don't maintain order in the House, will be thrown out," the newly-elected mayor said.

Carrying of mobile phone and pen was not permitted during the proceedings of the election for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor. The BJP members were opposing the decision to allow it.

The mayor adjourned the House around 6:35 pm. Many members had already voted by then.

Seven candidates are in the fray for the six members of the standing committee.

Aamil Malik of Sri Ram Colony ward, Raminder Kaur from Fateh Nagar ward, Mohini Jeenwal of Sundar Nagari ward and Sarika Chaudhary of Daryaganj ward, are AAP's candidates.

Kamaljeet Sehrawat from Dwarka-B ward and Pankaj Luthra from Jhilmil ward are BJP's candidates.

Independent councillor Gajender Singh Daral, who later joined the BJP, is also a candidate.

At about 7:40 pm, the mayor asked members who had ballot papers with them, to return it, and that only then she would take a further decision.

BJP members then started chanting, "tanashahi nahi chalegi" (dictatorship will not be allowed).

A group of BJP members again trooped to the Well of the House, chanting, 'Ek sadan mey do kanoon, nahin chalenge'.

BJP members also chanted 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram' to lodge their protest.

The mayor asked the protesting members to go back to their seats.

The House was then adjourned again around 8 PM, for 15 minutes. However, the House resumed around 9:30 pm, but BJP members continued to protest, asking the process to be started afresh.