Chaotic scenes had been witnessed on the Delhi Civic Centre through the election for the six members of the Standing Committee, understood to be essentially the most highly effective physique within the unified Municipal Company of Delhi. The drama, which began on Wednesday night, continued into the early hours of Thursday.
Visuals from the spot confirmed councillors screaming, jostling and punching, as others doused them with bottled water. Poll packing containers had been additionally thrown into the Nicely as lots of the members got here to blows. Proceedings had been disrupted a minimum of eight instances as a result of chaos.
Delhi’s new Mayor Shelly Oberoi alleged that she was attacked by BJP councillors whereas conducting the election. The BJP claimed that they had been solely making an attempt to debate the matter with the Mayor. Visuals from the spot confirmed BJP councillors climbing the stage and surrounding the mayor amid the uproar.
“BJP Councillors simply tried to assault me whereas I used to be conducting the Standing Committee elections, as per Supreme Court docket orders! That is the extent of BJP’s Gundagardi that they’re making an attempt to assault a girl Mayor,” tweeted the Mayor, who was elected earlier at the moment.
BJP Councillors simply tried to assault me whereas I used to be conducting the Standing Committee elections, as per Supreme Court docket orders! That is the extent of BJP’s Gundagardi that they’re making an attempt to assault a girl Mayor.
— Dr. Shelly Oberoi (@OberoiShelly) February 22, 2023
“We had gone to speak to the mayor that she ought to take heed to us and talk about with us so {that a} answer will be discovered on this matter,” stated the BJP’s Shikha Rai.
“That is completely surprising and unacceptable!” tweeted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. AAP’s Atishi stated they may complain to the police.
Sources stated the difficulty began as an altercation between the Aam Aadmi Get together and the BJP over allegations that some members had been carrying cellphones through the voting.
The BJP members claimed that the voting ought to be stopped and a contemporary mandate taken. However with the lateness of the hour and the insistence of Ms Oberoi that the election for the Standing Committee needs to be completed at the moment, tempers flared.
Carrying of pens and cellphones was not permitted through the election for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor and the BJP alleged that it was allowed in case of the Standing Committee ballot to breach secrecy and cease AAP members from voting as they please.
“Which secret voting is carried out whereas carrying cellphones? You recognize you’ll lose and you might be doing this to ship pictures of the voting to your excessive command. That is lowering democracy to a joke. We demand that you simply cancel the 50 votes already solid,” stated Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana at a hurriedly convened press convention.
The election for the Standing Committee began late this night, hours after the election for the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor. Each posts went to AAP, which has 150 votes within the 274-member home — method above the bulk mark of 138.
Within the Standing Committee, AAP is more likely to win three of the six seats and the BJP two. The combat is over the sixth seat, which may assist the BJP name the pictures within the civic physique they managed for the final 15 years.
The 2-month tussle over the nomination of the aldermen — councillors named by the Lieutenant Governor — and whether or not they can vote within the Mayor elections, had been geared in the direction of this present day, sources have indicated.
Oath-taking by the ten nominated aldermen and the query of their voting within the Mayor election had stalled Mayor election thrice because the civic polls in December. The election was postponed for the fourth time to accommodate the Supreme Court docket listening to on the difficulty. The courtroom had dominated out voting for aldermen, saying the constitutional provision is “very clear”.
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