NEW DELHI: The polls for the post of Mayor were called off for the day after a massive brawl erupted at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) meeting. At the Civic Cente, BJP and AAP councilors were seen hitting each other and rushed to the well of the house raising slogans in the ruckus that emerged in regard to the swearing-in ceremony of nominated councilors. Marshals were called soon as the ceremony progressed.
The councilors clashed over the appointment of 10 aldermen by Lt Governor VK Saxena as the first meeting of the newly elected Municipal Corporation of Delhi House. The first oath was administered to BJP councilor Satya Sharma- as the presiding officer for the elections to the posts of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) mayor and deputy mayor.
The protest began after alderman Manoj Sharma was invited to take his oath. The BJP councilors retaliated by raising slogans against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal as AAP members returned fire by sloganeering against PM Modi.
The AAP has alleged that Saxena has appointed BJP leaders who were not experts in civic issues as aldermen. In a letter on Jan 5th, the AAP Chief had earlier objected to the Lieutenant Governor naming 10 nominated MCD members without consulting its government in Delhi.
The MCD House has 250 elected councilors. The BJP’s seven Lok Sabha MPs from Delhi and AAP’s three Rajya Sabha members and 14 MLAs nominated by the Delhi Speaker will also participate in the Mayor election. AAP won 134 of 250 wards in the first municipal election held after the redrawing of constituencies and the merging of the MCD last year. The BJP finished second with 104 seats.