Delhi MCD announces ward committee election schedule, polling on July 15

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Monday announced elections for six vacant seats in its Standing Committee and for chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of its 12 ward committees on July 15, more than a month after the polls were cancelled indefinitely.

The Municipal Secretary issued separate notices notifying the election schedule, stating that the last date to file nomination papers is July 10. The elections were earlier scheduled for June 3 but were postponed “until further orders” on May 27. The MCD had not cited any reason for the decision. At the time, Leader of the Opposition Ankush Narang of AAP had alleged that the BJP had deferred the polls due to internal differences.

The Standing Committee currently has 12 members against its sanctioned strength of 18 after nine members retired on March 31 following the completion of the delayed draw of lots process. Of the retired members, six belonged to the BJP and three to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Subsequently, three vacancies were filled by the House on April 29, while six seats remained vacant. Jai Bhagwan Yadav from Begumpur and Manish Chadha from Paharganj were elected to the committee from the BJP, while Jajal Chaudhary from Shalimar Bagh was elected from the AAP.

The elections to the Standing Committee will be held in Keshav Puram, Narela, Central, Najafgarh, Shahdara South, and Karol Bagh ward committees, electing one member each.

The vacancies arose following the rotation-based retirement of Shikha Bhardwaj, Anju Devi, Inderjeet Sehrawat, Rajpal Singh, Neemaa Bhagat and Ankush Narang under the provisions of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.

Apart from electing Standing Committee members in the six concerned ward committees, all 12 ward committees will elect their chairpersons and deputy chairpersons.

The standing committee is the highest decision-making body of the MCD and is responsible for granting approval unanimously to proposals.