Timeline Of MCD's Standing Committee Polls: BJP Protests Tampering, Clashes Break Out

The election for the six seats of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) highest decision-making body, the Standing Committee, turned violent as AAP and BJP councillors clashed.

Here is a timeline of the events that took place:

The First Day of Standing Committee Polls

On Wednesday, election for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, took place in the MCD meeting.

Shelly Oberoi from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerging victorious in the mayoral poll took over as the presiding officer for the standing committee elections.

The MCD House attempted to hold the election of members of the standing committee.

As the process began, the Mayor announced that mobile phone would be allowed.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) objected to the use of mobile phones in the booth area, as it violated the secret ballot, and demanded fresh elections.

The mayor refused to call for fresh elections, and violent scenes and clashes erupted throughout the night.

The mayor adjourned the House on Thursday morning and scheduled fresh elections for the following day.

AAP Councillor Joins BJP

AAP councillor Pawan Sehrawat joined the BJP ahead of the crucial MCD House meeting, alleging that he felt “suffocated” due to corruption in the party led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Sehrawat also alleged that he was distressed as the AAP councillors were instructed to create a ruckus in the MCD House meeting.

MCD House Reconvenes

The MCD House reconvened to resume the election of members of the standing committee.

BJP’s demands of not allowing mobile phones and holding fresh elections were accepted.

Election Process for Standing Committee Members

The election process for the six members of the standing committee began at around 11am and concluded at 2.30pm.

Seven candidates were in the fray for the six members of the standing committee, four of AAP and three of BJP.

Aamil Malik, Raminder Kaur, Mohini Jeenwal, and Sarika Chaudhary were AAP's candidates, while Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Pankaj Luthra, and Gajender Singh Daral were BJP's candidates.

Out of the 250 councillors, 242 cast their votes, as Congress councillors abstained from voting.

Counting Process Begins

The counting process began 10 minutes later and went on for over two hours.

The Mayor declared one vote invalid, after the Election Commission experts present to count the votes had submitted the winners' names.

In the sheet forwarded by the technical expert, Ravi Prakash, AAP’s Sarika Chaudhary received the lowest number of votes, indicating that both AAP and BJP had won three seats each.

BJP Protests Invalid Vote Declaration:

The move was strongly opposed by the BJP members, who questioned the mayor's authority to declare a vote invalid when the technical experts had not done so.

Clashes between AAP and BJP Councillors

Violent clashes broke out between councillors from the two parties, and the bedlam turned into pandemonium. AAP and BJP members were seen embroiled in fistfights and sloganeering.

Fresh Elections to Take Place

The Mayor announced that the voting would take place again on Monday. However, as per the sources, the BJP would be approaching the Court against tampering in the election process.

Police Complaints Registered

Both the AAP and the BJP registered complaints with the Delhi Police following the clashes between councillors in the MCD House.

BJP councillor, Meenakshi Sharma, alleged that she was attacked with a sharp object. 

The Mayor alleged that the BJP members launched a fatal attack on her as they were losing the election.

Video Evidence Shared by BJP

The BJP shared video evidence of AAP MLA Atishi Marlena allegedly instigating AAP women councillors to indulge in violent behaviour against BJP members.

According to BJP, she was the mastermind behind the Friday (25 February) violence.

(with inputs from PTI)