The Mayor adjourned the house for the seventh time amid continuous sloganeering and ruckus in the house by BJP and AAP councillors
India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
The
Municipal
Corporation
of
Delhi
(MCD)
house
was
adjourned
for
the
seventh
time
after
resuming
today
morning,
as
Aam
Aadmi
Party
(AAP)
and
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
(BJP)
councillors
continued
to
clash
with
each
other
amid
heavy
chaos
and
sloganeering.
#WATCH
|
Delhi:
Proceedings
of
the
MCD
house
adjourned
again
for
an
hour
amid
sloganeering
in
the
house.
pic.twitter.com/MkaRKfKAqL—
ANI
(@ANI)
February
23,
2023
On
Wednesday
late
night,
several
members
of
the
BJP
and
the
AAP
exchanged
blows
and
hurled
plastic
bottles
at
each
other
in
the
chamber
of
the
MCD
House,
on
a
day
the
city
got
its
new
mayor.
A
few
BJP
members
claimed
that
some
of
their
fellow
party
councillors
got
hit
with
objects
flung
in
the
air,
while
Mayor
Shelly
Oberoi
alleged
that
some
BJP
councillors
tried
to
attack
her
during
the
proceedings
to
hold
the
election
to
pick
the
six
members
of
the
Standing
Committee
of
the
Municipal
Corporation
of
Delhi
(MCD).
The
incident
took
place
around
11
pm.
It
happened
during
the
time
the
newly-elected
mayor
had
adjourned
proceedings,
as
reported
by
news
agency
PTI.
Raja
Iqbal
Singh,
former
North
Delhi
mayor
said,
“I
got
hit
in
the
back
with
a
bottle,
and
there
were
apples
and
other
things
being
flung
around
in
the
air
during
the
commotion.
It
was
unimaginable.”
Ruckus
during
Delhi
civic
body
polls;
Mayor
Shelly
Oberoi
claims
BJP
tried
to
attack
her
The
whole
incident
was
triggered
by
bitter
argument
between
the
the
members
of
the
two
parties
over
the
mode
of
conducting
the
election
to
the
six
members
of
the
Standing
Committee.
“We
have
been
asking
them
to
hold
election
afresh,
since
mobile
phone
was
taken
to
the
booth
area
earlier
by
members
as
the
mayor
had
allowed
it.
Later,
when
she
disallowed
it
after
we
protested,
we
had
asked
for
starting
the
process
afresh,
but
the
mayor
was
adamant,”
BJP
councillor
Shikha
Rai
alleged.
Oberoi,
an
AAP
leader,
alleged
that
many
BJP
councillors
tried
to
“attack”
her
when
she
was
conducting
the
election.
“The
extent
of
BJP
hooliganism
is
that
they
are
trying
to
attack
a
woman,”
she
was
quoted
as
saying
in
a
statement
issued
by
the
AAP
later
tonight.
Chief
Minister
and
AAP
national
convener
Arvind
Kejriwal
reacting
to
it
said
its
“absolutely
shocking
and
unacceptable”.
AAP
MLA
Saurabh
Bharadwaj
alleged
that
the
BJP
was
not
allowing
the
standing
committee
elections
to
take
place.
“We
want
elections
(to
six
members
of
Standing
Committee).
Despite
the
Supreme
Court’s
order,
BJP
is
still
creating
ruckus
and
not
allowing
elections
to
take
place,
but
the
House
will
continue
to
function
until
the
election
process
is
over,”
he
tweeted
in
Hindi.
Seven
candidates
are
in
the
fray
for
the
six
members
of
the
standing
committee.
Aamil
Malik
of
Sri
Ram
Colony
ward,
Raminder
Kaur
from
Fateh
Nagar
ward,
Mohini
Jeenwal
of
Sundar
Nagari
ward
and
Sarika
Chaudhary
of
Daryaganj
ward,
are
AAP’s
candidates.
Kamaljeet
Sehrawat
from
Dwarka-B
ward
and
Pankaj
Luthra
from
Jhilmil
ward
are
BJP’s
candidates.
Independent
councillor
Gajender
Singh
Daral,
who
later
joined
the
BJP,
is
also
a
candidate.
Bribery
case:
Punjab
AAP
MLA
Amit
Rattan
Kotfatta
arrested
by
Vigilance
Bureau
AAP
won
the
election
to
the
posts
of
both
the
mayor
and
deputy
mayor.
The
Standing
Committee
members’ election
was
held
over
an
hour
after
the
deputy
mayor
was
elected.
After
the
mayoral
election,
the
House
was
briefly
adjourned
and
then
it
resumed
to
elect
the
deputy
mayor,
again
AAP’s
Aaley
Mohammed
Iqbal
winning
the
election,
defeating
BJP’s
Kamal
Bagri.
Mayor
Oberoi
then
adjourned
the
House
for
an
hour.
However,
as
the
session
didn’t
resume
after
one
hour,
BJP
councillor
Shikha
Rai
told
the
municipal
secretary
that
it
was
getting
late
and
that
the
mayor
be
asked
to
come
back
to
the
House.
Meanwhile,
many
BJP
members
chanted
‘Hanuman
Chalisa’
for
several
minutes,
awaiting
resumption
of
the
House.
The
session
finally
resumed
around
6:15
pm
and
the
proceedings
to
elect
the
six
members
of
the
MCD
panel
began.
As
the
mayor
permitted
carrying
mobile
phone
to
the
booth
area,
BJP
members
opposed
it.
Many
of
them
later
trooped
to
the
Well
of
the
House,
and
chanted
anti-Arvind
Kejriwal
slogans.
“People
who
don’t
maintain
order
in
the
House,
will
be
thrown
out,” the
newly-elected
mayor
said.
The
proceedings
during
the
exercise
to
hold
the
election
of
six
members
of
the
MCD
panel,
were
adjourned
for
nine
times,
the
ninth
one
being
at
about
11:35
pm.
Even
past
midnight,
it
was
still
uncertain
as
to
the
finality
of
the
election
to
pick
the
of
six
members
of
the
panel.
On
February
17,
the
Supreme
Court
had
ordered
issuing
of
a
notice
within
24
hours
for
convening
the
first
meeting
of
the
MCD
to
fix
the
date
of
elections
for
the
mayor,
the
deputy
mayor
and
the
members
of
the
standing
committee
of
the
civic
body.
The
next
day,
Lt
Governor
VK
Saxena
gave
his
nod
to
convene
the
municipal
House
to
conduct
elections
on
February
22.
The
court
issued
the
order
after
hearing
a
plea
moved
by
Oberoi.
Story first published: Thursday, February 23, 2023, 9:14 [IST]