A day ahead of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Mayoral election, the tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Lt. Governor has intensified over the nomination of Aldermen to the MCD and the presiding officer.
Delhi L-G V.K. Saxena has named BJP councillor Satya Sharma as pro-tem speaker to preside over the meeting for the election of the mayor. She will administer the oath to other councillors.
“The Lt. Governor of National Capital Territory of Delhi under section 77 of the Act is further pleased to nominate Satya Sharma to preside over the meeting for the election of the Mayor. She will be administered oath/affirmation as per section 32 of the Act, by Santosh Kumar Rai, District Magistrate, New Delhi. The other councillors will be administered oath/affirmation by the Presiding Officer,” said a notification from the L-G Secretariat.
Meanwhile, the AAP has also nominated Mukesh Goyal as the leader of the house in the MCD.
Satya Sharma was the mayor of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation before all the civic bodies were merged in the national capital.
Another point of tussle between the AAP and the L-G that has erupted is on the nomination of Aldermen to the MCD.
The Delhi L-G appointed 10 people to be represented as nominated councillors in the MCD. The L-G notified the names of the nominated councillors on Tuesday.
However, soon after the notification was issued in the gazette on Wednesday, the AAP hit back, calling it “illegal and unconstitutional”, and accused the L-G of by-passing the elected Delhi government.
Meanwhile, in the recent developments, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to the L-G seeking the reconsideration of the nomination ahead of mayoral election.
Kejriwal has said that such a series of actions are blatantly unconstitutional, a colourable exercise of power, apart from constituting a fraud on the Constitution and display a worryingly scant regard for provisions of the Constitution.
Urging Lt. Governor Saxena to reconsider the nominations, Kejriwal has said the decision should be recalled.
In a separate letter, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also wrote to the MCD Commissioner on Thursday directing him to desist from taking any further action in regard to swearing-in of the ‘illegal nominees’.
