Ruckus, yet again, at MCD House meeting; standing committee poll adjourned

The election for the final seat on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s standing committee was postponed late on Thursday after a day-long gridlock, despite an eight-hour-long stand-off on the floor of the House, three adjournments, protests, and an intervention by the Delhi lieutenant governor, in what is the latest controversy to engulf the city’s civic body.
At the heart of the showdown between senior MCD officials and political parties was an order from the municipal secretariat disallowing mobile phones inside the chamber during the vote.
The drama, which started around 2pm on Thursday, went on till around 10.15pm, till MCD issued a statement saying: “Standing committee election for sixth member will not be held today. Date and time of election will be intimidated later.”
Control over the standing committee, a key panel which controls MCD’s purse strings, has been at the centre of a political and legal tussle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for at least 20 months. Out of 18 standing committee members, 12 are elected through zonal wards committees and six are directly elected by the House of councillors.
Currently, the BJP has nine members in the standing committee, and the AAP eight. The 18th seat was vacated when the BJP councillor from Dwarka-B, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, resigned upon being elected the party’s parliamentarian from West Delhi constituency.
To be sure, the municipal secretariat is responsible for coordinating the security detail and facilitating the conduct of the House meetings.
If the AAP wins the last remaining seat, both parties would have nine members each in the standing committee. “Such an outcome will lead to both parties securing nine members each. The committee will be constituted with election of chairperson and in case of equal number, a draw of lots from ballot box will decide the outcome at later stage,” an MCD official, requesting anonymity, said.
The official said that the enforcement of the mobile phone rule appeared to be an attempt to prevent councillors from clicking pictures and their respective parties verifying that they did not cross-vote.
How the events unfolded
In the morning, the municipal secretariat affixed multiple notices outside the chamber on the fourth floor of SPM Civic Centre municipal headquarters on Minto Road, which said: “Mobile phone is not allowed in the house. Councillors can deposit their mobile phones in the assistant municipal secretary room.”
Frisking points set up by Delhi Police and paramilitary staff were set up at all entrance points. BJP councillors complied with the rule and bureaucrats took their seats on the dais, but the AAP councillors held a sit-in in protest in the lobby.
Around 2pm, mayor Shelly Oberoi and AAP councillors insisted that phones cannot be disallowed inside the chamber and said that the proposed frisking of elected councillors violated their dignity.
“We have been elected by people and hence, are members of this House. This is like hurting the dignity and sentiments of members. This is against democracy and such a step has never been taken in the past,” Oberoi said at around 2.30, after which she left the chamber.
Immediately, municipal commissioner Ashwani Kumar addressed the House.
“Secrecy of the ballot is very important for the election process. Instructions in this regard had been issued in writing. I am requesting all members to follow the regulations and not to bring mobile phones or any electronic gadget here which may violate the secrecy,” he said, as BJP members thumped their desks in agreement.
Meanwhile, municipal secretary Siva Prasad reiterated that the step to ban cellphones was taken to ensure the secrecy of the voting process.
At 3.50pm, Oberoi then announced an adjournment of the election to October 5 and termed the session a “Black Day”. “This is a Black Day in democracy. My repeated instructions regarding entry of councillors are not being adhered to,” she said.
By evening, AAP councillors had slowly started leaving the building.
However, in a late evening intervention, LG VK Saxena invoked the seldom-used Section 487 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, directing that the elections be completed on Thursday itself. In an order, after the mayor announced the adjournment of the poll, the LG said the mayor has “deliberately tried to subvert the democratic process” of conduct of elections using “frivolous arguments.”
Saxena’s order said that in case the mayor was unavailable or unwilling to preside over the meeting, the deputy mayor may be requested to preside over the meeting for conduct of elections. In case both were unwilling or unavailable, the senior-most member may be requested to discharge the function, it said.
Around 8.30pm, commissioner Ashwani Kumar wrote to Oberoi, seeking immediate action towards conduct of election according to the orders issued by the LG. Preparations were ongoing till 10pm, but there were no councillors in the chamber.
Meanwhile, the AAP and the BJP got into a war of words as both parties maintained their ground over the polls.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said: “Election is to be held and that too for one seat. AAP councillors have more votes than required, yet they are not holding elections, what is there to fear in this? AAP is a party of cheaters; their own leaders do not trust their councillors, and they know that they will not support them.”
Former deputy CM Manish Sisodia called the LG’s order “illegal” and “unconstitutional”.
In a press conference around 9.30pm, Sisodia said: “Mayor is the presiding officer and she has power to conduct the election, its timing and process. Around 8.30-8.45pm, the LG wrote a letter to the MCD commissioner to conduct the election to MCD standing committee around 10pm on Thursday. The LG is in foreign country, but he has directed the commissioner to conduct the election immediately.”
Sisodia, saying councillors cannot be summoned at such short notice, added: “We will talk to lawyers and take any legal action possible in the matter.”
LG intervention
Justifying the use of Section 487 of the DMC Act, LG Saxena in the order argued that the high court was forced to step in on several occasions, severely castigating MCD for its persistent default in discharging its statutory obligations.
To be sure, Section 487 of the DMC Act deals with directions by the central government to the MCD. It states that if the central government is of the opinion that any duty imposed on the corporation or any municipal authority by or under this act has not been performed or has been performed in an imperfect, insufficient or unsuitable manner, it may direct the corporation or the municipal authority concerned, within such period as it thinks fit, to make arrangements to its satisfaction for the proper performance of the duty, or as the case may be.
The municipal authority concerned shall comply with such direction, the act says.