MCD standing committee poll unconstitutional: AAP

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party termed the election of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi standing committee member scheduled for 1 pm on Friday as “unconstitutional and illegal” and asserted that the election will only be held on October 5.

Following disruption over frisking of the councillors on Thursday, the election to the MCD Standing Committee was postponed till October 5 by Mayor Shelly Oberoi. Later Lt Governor VK Saxena, however, overturned the postponement of the elections and directed MCD Commissioner Ashwani Kumar to hold the election on Friday at 1 pm.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia and MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi accused the BJP and the municipal commissioner of making a mockery of democracy and the constitution. Sisodia alleged that the commissioner issued an order late Thursday, directing the election to be conducted with an additional commissioner as the presiding officer. “The BJP is attempting to repeat what it did in the Chandigarh mayoral poll, where it was caught red handed,” he said. As per rules, only the mayor, deputy mayor or a senior councilor can preside over the meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House.

The mayor has already announced the House meeting and election of the standing committee member for October 5, he said. Sisodia further claimed that the commissioner’s order for the election, issued at the direction of the Delhi Lieutenant Governor, is “illegal”.

Oberoi said she had already announced the next House meeting and the

election of the sixth member of the standing committee on October 5 and that she was committed to a free and fair election.

This order by commission is “unconstitutional, null and void and illegal”, she added. She asserted that the election will only be held on October 5.

. She further stressed that many councillors had informed her they were out of town after the adjournment of the House. “When your order was issued at 11 pm on 26.9.2024, there was inadequate time for them to reach for the said meeting. “In fact, most councillors have not even received the meeting notice by 10 am on 27.09.2024.

Therefore, to expect them to attend the meeting at such short notice is not only a violation of their electoral rights as public representatives but also violates the fair democratic process and Principles of Natural Justice,” she added. Oberoi argued that rushing the election would undermine the democratic process, which demands proper notice and preparation.

“Conducting elections without proper adherence to rules and regulations will erode public confidence in the institution and the fairness of its processes,” she said. The mayor directed the commissioner to hold the elections on October 5 as per her order. “This is not only a statutory requirement under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, but also a constitutional obligation,” she said, emphasising that any deviation would constitute a violation of both the DMC Act and the Constitution.