The House meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was adjourned on Saturday amid a ruckus over the delay in appointing a Dalit Mayor of the city. The BJP councillors raised slogans and stormed into the well of the House, carrying posters and banners, and demanded that mayoral elections be held.
Amid the commotion, several proposals were passed by Mayor Shelly Oberoi. She then adjourned the House until the next meeting. Objecting to the passing of proposals by Oberoi without the majority of the AAP councillors in the House, Leader of Opposition Raja Iqbal Singh said the passed resolutions will be considered invalid.
The meeting, scheduled to begin at 2 pm, started late when Mayor Shelly Oberoi arrived at 2:48 pm. It opened with the leaders of all three parties reading a ‘shlok prastav’ to mourn the death of two former councillors. Mayor Oberoi then called for a two-minute silent tribute, to which all councillors complied.
However, immediately after the tribute, the house descended into chaos as AAP and BJP councillors began shouting slogans against each other. BJP councillors repeatedly chanted “Pass” and “Adjourn” into the microphones, mocking the mayor for passing agendas without discussion and adjourning meetings amidst the ruckus. A few BJP councillors even attempted to approach the well of the house where the mayor was seated but were stopped by security personnel. Despite the commotion, within five minutes, Mayor Oberoi passed a few agendas, postponed the remaining ones, and adjourned the meeting. As she left, BJP councillors jeered with chants of "Bhaag gayi, bhaag gayi, Mayor Sahiba bhaag gayi."
There were 81 AAP councillors present, while the BJP had a majority with 94 councillors in attendance, along with six Congress councilors. The AAP councillors, upset with the obstruction of the standing committee election, did not attend the session, the BJP claimed.
The BJP councillors demanded a vote on the resolutions, but the mayor ignored the request, Singh said. “According to Article 44 (1) of the rules of procedure and conduct of the MCD, if four or more members demand a vote on any proposal, the Mayor is required to conduct the vote,” Singh said. He further claimed that the declining attendance among AAP councillors was a sign of internal frustration with ongoing violations of the MCD Act and delays in the Mayor's election and the formation of the Standing Committee.
In response, AAP’s Leader of the House, Mukesh Goel, defended the low turnout, attributing it to the city’s traffic woes. "Some councillors were stuck in traffic for over two hours, and many only managed to reach the MCD after the meeting had already ended," Goel said.
When the proceedings began, Oberoi criticised the quick manner in which standing committee elections were held on September 26 despite her objections.
"In the previous House, the MCD standing committee elections were not able to be held. The House was adjourned until October 5 and the elections were to be held in this meeting. But in an unconstitutional manner, the elections were held hastily on September 27," Oberoi said.
"After the matter was brought to the notice of the Supreme Court, it took cognizance of the issue and ordered that elections will not be held until the next hearing," she added before adjourning the meeting after passing several proposals.
The elections for the standing committee chairperson have been stalled following the Supreme Court's directive to the office of Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena to not hold the polls until the next hearing, slated after two weeks.
Since the AAP took control of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2022, the ongoing power struggle between AAP and the BJP has turned the civic body into a political battleground. This conflict led to stalled discussions, even on crucial issues, leaving the MCD in a state of paralysis.
At the heart of this tussle is the battle for control of the standing committee—an 18-member body that serves as the financial backbone of the corporation. No proposal exceeding rupees 5 crores can proceed without the standing committee's approval.
