The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have won the Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls by a significant margin. This comes at a time when AAP and Congress councillors abstained from voting during yesterday's polls. AAP's national convener and Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal has also accused BJP of illegal capture of MCD alleging that the party "stole the mandate."
Election Held Amid Boycott
The election was held in the absence of AAP councillors, who boycotted the proceedings in protest. Under the directive of Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) V K Saxena, the election went ahead with BJP's candidate, Sunder Singh secured the seat with 115 votes. AAP's candidate, Nirmala Kumari from Sainik Enclave, received no votes. Qualifying quota was 58 votes. With such an unopposed win, BJP now finds itself capable of holding 10 out of 18 seats in the Standing Committee, leaving AAP with eight. Despite being the ruling party in the MCD, AAP would face a challenge in making any financial proposals above ₹5 crore with a valid passage without the support of the BJP.
Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi, who had earlier adjourned the election to 5 October, labeled Friday's election "illegal" and charged the BJP with the sabotage of democratic processes. The AAP attacked the BJP, saying that the party was "bypassing constitutional rules" in its struggle to capture the MCD's Standing Committee.
BJP Alleges AAP Fears Cross-Voting
BJP's Leader of Opposition in the MCD, Raja Iqbal Singh, accused AAP of boycotting the election due to the fear of cross-voting within its party. With regard to this, he even rejected allegations of unconstitutional conduct levied by AAP against the election in question and termed it a step towards ensuring proper smoother working within the MCD.
Inputs by Agencies
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