LG-appointed members take oath first as MCD House reconvenes

New Delhi:The new 250-member MCD House reconvened on Tuesday with members nominated by the Lt Governor taking oath before the elected representatives amid cries of “shame shame” from AAP councillors.

Despite objections raised by AAP councillor Mukesh Goyal, Presiding Officer Satya Sharma administered the oath to the nominated members before the elected members.

The nominated members raised slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai” after the ceremony.

Sharma then called on the elected councillors to take their oaths.

There was heavy security deployment inside the municipal House, the Civic Centre premises and even the Well to avoid a repeat of the chaos that ensued during the last meeting on January 6.

The maiden meeting of the newly elected Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House was adjourned without electing the mayor and the deputy mayor amid loud protests by AAP councillors over the presiding officer’s decision to administer oath to the 10 aldermen first.

A larger number of civil defence personnel, including women members, and marshals were deployed compared to the deployment during the first municipal House, a senior official said.

The mayor and the deputy mayor of Delhi are slated to be elected on Tuesday. Following which the mayoral poll, Delhi will get a mayor for the city as a whole after a 10-year gap.

Shelly Oberoi and Ashu Thakur are the AAP’s contenders for the post of mayor. The BJP has nominated Rekha Gupta. The nominees for the post of deputy mayor are Aaley Mohammad Iqbal and Jalaj Kumar for the AAP and Kamal Bagri for the BJP.

Voters for the mayor’s election are the 250 councillors, seven Lok Sabha and three Rajya Sabha MPs from Delhi and 14 MLAs nominated by the Legislative Assembly.

The Delhi Assembly Speaker has nominated one BJP MLA and 13 AAP MLAs to the MCD.

BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri said, “We lost by a nominal margin, but we will win the mayor election. The AAP people who have bought tickets paying Rs 50-70 lakh will now realise the truth.”

Fellow BJP MP Gautam Gambhir said, “We don’t do politics like the Aam Aadmi Party. I wish that the election goes peacefully… Whoever wins the mayor (post) should work for the people of Delhi.” PTI

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.