The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Thursday postponed the mayoral elections after Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena refused to appoint a presiding officer for it in “the absence of inputs from the Chief Minister”, according to a statement.
The elections were scheduled to be held on Friday after the Election Commission of India gave a go-ahead for it. The civic body statement did not mention as to when the polls will be held now.
According to the statement, Raj Niwas said “in the absence of inputs from the CM, the L-G does not deem it appropriate to exercise his power as Administrator to appoint the presiding officer”. The L-G’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Meanwhile, the BJP blamed the ruling party for the situation, saying the elections were declared without following due procedure and necessary approvals.
The delay in the appointment of the presiding officer had resulted in a major row, with Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj alleging on Tuesday that Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar sent a file related to it to Raj Niwas bypassing him.
‘Done at BJP’s behest’
The ruling AAP alleged that the L-G office acted at the “behest of the BJP-led Centre”. “There have been several past instances where the L-G did not follow the aid and advice of the CM,” AAP leader Durgesh Pathak told reporters.
Mr. Pathak also called the L-G’s move anti-Dalit. “This time a Dalit was to be elected as the Mayor. The cancellation of the elections is an insult to the Dalit community,” he said.
Mr. Bharadwaj once again alleged that the Centre wanted a repeat of the Chandigarh episode, where the “brazen malpractices” in the election process by the presiding officer led to the victory of the BJP candidate as votes of AAP councillors were declared invalid. Later, the Supreme Court had to step in to overturn the result.
Mr. Bharadwaj said the Chief Secretary did not route through him the file related to the appointment of the presiding officer and directly sent it to the L-G office in contravention to the rules.
“The whole country had seen how the BJP tried to ensure the victory of its candidate by rigging the Chandigarh mayoral elections. The main character that emerged in that entire conspiracy was the presiding officer, Anil Masih,” he said.
Mr. Bharadwaj said according to the rules, the file regarding the presiding officer is first sent by the Chief Secretary to the Urban Development Minister, who forwards it to the Chief Minister’s Office. “From there, the file is sent to the Lieutenant-Governor’s office. This time, bypassing that procedure, the Chief Secretary sent that file directly to the L-G,” he added.
Reacting to it, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said AAP leaders should first tell people as to why the mayoral polls were declared without the crucial appointment. He alleged that AAP pressured the Municipal Commissioner and the Municipal Secretary to declare the polls without taking necessary approvals.
‘BJP feared setback’
The Congress, AAP’s INDIA bloc partner, said the polls were delayed as the BJP did not want to suffer a setback before the completion of the Lok Sabha election.
Published - April 26, 2024 01:16 am IST
