Late evening, Thursday, April 25; less than 24 hours to go before the scheduled MCD mayoral elections, the civic body issues an order postponing the polls. ‘The election is subject to clearance from the Election Commission and the nomination of the presiding officer. Even though the poll body has assented to the polls for election of the new mayor and deputy mayor of the municipal corporation, the appointment of the presiding officer has not taken place,’ the civic body order says.
“Since the nomination of the presiding officer is mandatory as per Section 77(a) of the DMC Act, 1957 (as amended in 2022), therefore, it may not be possible to conduct elections of the mayor and deputy mayor as per schedule,” the notice read.
Earlier in the evening. The Raj Niwas has issued a letter on behalf of the Lieutenant Governor, VK Saxena, to the chief secretary. “These are peculiar and unprecedented circumstances,” the letter reads.
“The serving chief minister is under judicial custody in a corruption case and therefore cannot discharge his functions.” The tone of the letter is blunt. The L-G does not intend to mince his words. “There is no scintilla of doubt that taking such a decision in the absence of inputs from the chief minister would be grossly inappropriate both in terms of law and propriety.”
“I do not deem it appropriate to exercise my power as administrator to appoint the presiding officer.” This is where the letter leaves us.
The contention
The Aam Aadmi Party; majority in the MCD House. ‘The L-G Secretariat cancelled the polls.’ ‘After all, he was authority for the appointment of the presiding officer.’ AAP had set the crosshair on the L-G. We can well assume where they targeted next.
“The BJP got the election cancelled. Despite permission from the EC, the L-G has cancelled the polls suggesting he takes advice from the CM. I can list numerous instances where he deliberately flouted the advice of Chief Minister Kejriwal,” AAP’s Durgesh Pathak said.
AAP leaders claimed the incident is another attempt by the Lieutenant Governor and the BJP to undermine the power of the AAP-led civic body. “Everyone can clearly see that Bhartiya Janata Party is trying to impede the functioning of the MCD at any cost; in the same manner in which they have been trying to obstruct the Delhi government,” said Delhi Minister Gopal Rai.
AAP even saw an opportunity to take the ‘anti-Dalit’ jibe at the BJP. The MCD, this year, is slated to elect the mayor from reserved category candidates. The polls postponed, the AAP claimed it was the BJP’s anti-Dalit agenda, to prevent a reserved category candidate from becoming the Delhi Mayor. “The BJP conspired to delay the election of MCD mayor through the L-G, with the aim to prevent a member of the Dalit community from occupying the mayor’s chair,” Sanjay Singh said.
Responding to the allegations, Leader of Opposition in the House Raja Iqbal Singh claimed it was the AAP that was anti-Dalit, and also anti-women. “The AAP did not want to hold elections for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor so that the ongoing differences in their party do not become public. If they wanted to conduct the mayoral polls, they should have completed the formalities in a constitutional manner before the announcement of general elections,” the BJP leader retorted.
What now?
Well, with the electoral process directly contingent on Kejriwal’s involvement, as we are made to believe, the civic body faces the prospect of a prolonged delay in conducting fresh elections. MCD officials say they will need to initiate a fresh round of file circulation for the presiding officer appointment.
Senior municipal officials familiar with the proceedings clarify that the elections have been postponed rather than cancelled. “The existing five nominations, two for the mayor’s post and three for deputy mayor, remain valid, and no new nominations will be solicited. However, the process of nominating a presiding officer will need to be restarted. This can only proceed when circumstances change regarding access to the chief minister,” explained an official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official also noted that potential avenues for resolution include judicial intervention, the release of the chief minister, or the appointment of a new chief minister. “Movement on the appointment of a new presiding officer hinges on these developments,” the official added.
AAP MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak indicated that the party is considering legal recourse and may approach the court to break the impasse.
Meanwhile, the BJP blamed AAP for initiating the administrative deadlock, with MCD’s opposition leader Raja Iqbal Singh accusing the AAP of disregarding constitutional procedures for conducting elections.
The MCD may also be treading into legally murky waters, and courts may need to intervene if the actions are legally contested. Since the post of mayor is reserved for a member of the Scheduled Caste community, extending the one year term of the incumbent mayor may potentially violate reservation provisions and the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act (DMC) Act.
A house divided
After the three smaller civic bodies in the capital, North Delhi, South Delhi and East Delhi municipal corporations were merged and constituencies were redrawn in 2022, fresh elections were held in December of that year. The AAP won a majority in the House winning 134 wards out of the total 250. The BJP won 104 while the Congress managed just 9.
Despite the party’s clear majority in the House, the AAP struggled to elect their mayor, with the mayoral elections postponed thrice amid prolonged tussle between the AAP and the BJP. AAP had previously raised objections to L-G VK Saxena’s unilateral appointment of 10 aldermen without consulting the ‘elected’ government. The swearing-in of these 10 nominated aldermen and the uncertainty surrounding their voting rights had led to the postponement of the mayoral polls on three occasions.
In addition to the 250 councillors, the mayoral election in Delhi also involves the participation of 10 members of Parliament, seven from the Lok Sabha and three from the Rajya Sabha, besides 14 members of the Assembly (one-fifth of the total strength of 70 MLAs). This brings the total electorate count to 274. To secure victory in the mayoral elections, a candidate must garner 138 votes, one more than half of the total electorate.
If the alderman were allowed to vote, the strength of the BJP would have gone up to 123 from 113. AAP had 150 votes in the 274-member house.
While the outcome of the mayoral election would remain unaffected, the BJP could have potentially secured a significant portion of the Standing Committee, widely regarded as the most influential body within the civic agency. However, the Congress announced its intention to abstain from voting, sparking accusations of “collusion with the BJP” from AAP councillors.
The election was delayed for a fourth time after the AAP approached the Supreme Court in the matter. A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud held that nominated members cannot vote in the election. “Nominated members cannot go for election. The constitutional provision is very clear,” the court order said.
After the judgement, AAP’s Shelly Oberoi was elected Mayor on February 22, 2023, receiving 150 votes while the BJP’s Rekha Gupta polled in 116.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia congratulated Oberoi and the party workers. “The goons have lost, the public won. Today in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the people of Delhi won, and hooliganism was defeated,” Kejriwal said.
Oberoi was re-elected unopposed for a second term as Mayor on April 26, 2023 after BJP candidate Shikha Rai withdrew her nomination.
A civic standstill
With the city’s governance already facing political gridlock amid the ongoing tussle between the L-G and the AAP-led Delhi government, many fear that the latest impasse may bring the civic body business to a standstill. However, a closer look suggests, this has already been the case for some time now; it’s been a while since the MCD is functioning without its all-powerful standing committee.
The Standing Committee is the highest decision making executive body of MCD and consists of 18 members. It authorises the corporation’s financial functions, provides approval for projects, oversees formulation and implementation of civic policies in the capital city, and so on. It also has powers to appoint sub-committees on issues such as education, environment, parking etc and form regulations.
The formation of the standing committee has been pending since the December 2022 elections. The ongoing conflict between the ruling AAP dispensation and the opposition BJP has resulted in a deadlock, such that, although the first six members of the committee have been elected by the House, the constitution of the 12 ward committees, one for each of the 12 civic zones, is yet pending finalisation. Each ward committee is responsible for nominating one member to the Standing Committee.
At the heart of the issue is the 10 aldermen, representatives appointed to the corporation, who possess voting rights in the ward committees and thus indirectly influence the selection of members for the standing committee from the 12 zones.
The AAP has contested the nomination of aldermen by the L-G before the Supreme Court, arguing that such appointments are unlawful as the authority to make such decisions rests with the elected government, not with the Centre’s representative.
With both parties firm in their positions, the Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on the matter. Until a ruling comes, the formation of ward committees remains stalled, consequently leaving the composition of the Standing Committee incomplete.
This has significantly affected the civic body’s financial matters as sanction of funds above Rs 5 crore require the panel’s approval while the municipal commissioner can take call on matters up to Rs 5 crore. A range of works, including the procurement of textbooks for schools, medical supplies for health institutions, maintenance of public parks, toilets, and other civic amenities have been stuck in the absence of the panel.
In January, Mayor Shelly Oberoi moved the Supreme Court seeking its directions to allow the MCD House to assume the functions of the standing committee till it is “properly and legally constituted”. The matter is still pending before the apex court.
In an April 27 statement, the L-G Office said the Urban Development minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has been sitting over a proposal to temporarily enhance financial powers of the MCD Commissioner from present Rs 5 crore to Rs 25 crore for nearly seven months.
The proposal was generated by the L-G after learning that MCD works, including disposal of garbage at landfill sites, lack of budget for MCD schools and hospitals, have been affected due to the non-constitution of standing committee, the statement said.
“BJP people were illegally appointed as aldermen by the L-G as a result of which the standing committee could not be formed. The L-G should answer why the MCD commissioner did not bring any proposal worth more than Rs 5 crore before the House of the civic body since January till date,” the AAP alleged in a statement.
The MCD, in January itself, passed a resolution to bring all the powers of the standing committee under the House of the civic body but the L-G wants to ‘paralyse’ it, the AAP charged. Enhancing the financial power of the commissioner related to works worth over Rs 5 crore will leave him with no accountability towards the elected House of the civic body, the AAP asserted.
With the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the political situation in the capital continues to get murkier with each passing day. Amid the mire, the average Delhi resident gets more and more complacent every day.
Civic body says
The election is subject to clearance from the Election Commission and the nomination of the presiding officer. Even though the poll body has assented... the presiding officer is mandatory as per Section 77(a) of the DMC Act, 1957 (as amended in 2022), therefore, it may not be possible to conduct elections of the mayor and deputy mayor as per schedule.