Delhi MC House adjourned amid ruckus over delay in appointment of Dalit Mayor

The Delhi Municipal Corporation House 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 said the passed resolutions would be considered invalid.

There were 81 AAP councillors present, while the BJP had a majority with 94 councillors in attendance, along with six Congress councillors.

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, Iqbal said.

When the proceedings began, Mayor 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 could not 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 VK Saxena to not hold the polls until the next hearing, slated after two weeks.