NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Ankush Narang, has alleged that even after becoming Delhi’s Mayor, Raja Iqbal Singh is still holding on to his position in the MCD’s Standing Committee.
Narang said this is perhaps the first time in history that a Mayor is refusing to resign from a committee that is meant to report to him. “In what capacity will Raja Iqbal now sit in meetings of a committee that is answerable to the Mayor himself?” Narang asked.
He demanded that Raja Iqbal respect basic protocol and morality by stepping down from the committee and apologising to the people of Delhi.
“Raja Iqbal became the Mayor on 25 April, but he continues to remain a Standing Committee member from the Civil Lines Zone,” he said.
Narang pointed out that the MCD elects 18 Standing Committee members from the House and 12 from various zones, from which the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson are chosen.
“A recent notification has announced fresh elections for Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the zones, as well as Standing Committee members from City-SP and South Zone, due to resignations by Aam Aadmi Party councillors,” he added.
Raising a constitutional and moral issue, Narang said, “Raja Iqbal is a Standing Committee member from the Civil Lines Zone, and never in history has it happened that a Mayor sits below in a meeting as a Committee member while the Chairperson sits above.”
He stressed that since the Standing Committee reports to the Mayor, Raja Iqbal should have resigned from the committee on the day he took over as Mayor. “I had expected him to resign from the Civil Lines Zone post too, but till now, he has neither resigned nor has any notification been issued — while notifications for other zones have already been released,” he said.