Standing Committee Finally Takes Shape
New Delhi: After a long wait, the formation process of the standing committee in Municipal Corporation of Delhi gained clarity on Monday following the elections to two of its seats on Monday.
While Rafia Mahir, an AAP councillor from Bazar Sitaram, won a standing committee member seat from City-Sadar Paharganj, Jagmohan Mehlawat, a
BJP
councillor from Vasant Kunj, won the election from South zone.
The 18-member committee now has 17 elected representatives, with BJP holding 10 seats and AAP securing seven. The final member's election is scheduled during Tuesday's house meeting. BJP's councillor from Gautampuri and former mayor in the erstwhile east corporation, Satya Sharma, and AAP councillor from Jaitpur, Hema, filed nomination papers for the post.
BJP, already having secured a majority, is well-positioned to have its candidate elected as the standing committee chairman on June 12.
The formation of the standing committee has been pending for two and a half years for various reasons. "A proposal for the constitution of the standing committee on June 12 will be tabled in the house meeting on Tuesday... We will focus on improving healthcare, education, etc," said mayor Raja Iqbal Singh.
Several development projects over Rs 5 crore are waiting for the committee's nod. They include finalising an agency for door-to-door garbage collection in central and west zones, opening a dog park, engaging a new toll tax operator, and Shahjahanabad Interpretation Centre. The works for finalising the layout plan for projects belonging to various agencies are also pending.
BJP demonstrated its strength in the MCD ward committee elections on Monday by securing the chairman positions in eight wards: Central, South, Shahdara North, Keshavpuram, Civil Lines, Narela and Najafgarh.
AAP claimed the chairman's post in four zones: City-Sadar Paharganj, Karol Bagh, West and Rohini.
The results were disappointing for the newly formed Indraprastha Vikas Party (IVP), which contested for the chairman's posts in West and Rohini, and lost in both. Despite joining hands with BJP and having a majority in Rohini, it lost due to cross-voting. AAP councillor Amrit Jain got 11 votes while IVP got 10, despite the fact that IVP and BJP together had 11 members and AAP 10.
In the same zone, BJP's Narendra Kumar Singh, who fought for the deputy chairman's seat, received 11 votes and won by one vote.
Congress' two councillors boycotted the election.
In West zone, there were 25 members (councillors), including 13 from AAP and 12 for the combined BJP-IVP. But in the election, AAP's Nirmal Kumari managed to get 14 votes and IVP only 11. IVP's Mukesh Goel accepted that cross-voting happened.
"But we are not losing hope. The party was formed barely last month on May 17 and still contested and performed well," he said.
AAP Delhi convener Saurabh Bharadwaj posted on X, "In MCD, AAP has secured victories in four zones. Despite 15 councillors leaving the party to form a new faction with BJP's support, we have maintained control over four out of five zones. I am very proud to share that those who left AAP... and openly received BJP's support in the zone elections failed to win in any zone."
South zone witnessed cross-voting, too, resulting in BJP's victory despite AAP holding a majority. Umed Singh of BJP managed to get 10 votes, AAP's Sheetal Chaudhary eight, and one vote was invalid.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that winning the chairmanship in eight zones, along with an additional victory in the standing committee election and the deputy chairman's seat in Rohini, clearly reflected the growing dissatisfaction among AAP's councillors towards the party leadership. "The results have clearly established that AAP is a disintegrating party. Even its elected representatives and party office bearers are drifting away," said Sachdeva.
Denying any cross-voting, leader of the opposition Ankush Narag said, "We fought for the people's interests and will continue to do so."
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