New Delhi: What was supposed to be a routine committee election at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) quickly turned into a heated political confrontation on Thursday, with AAP and BJP councillors trading accusations, raising slogans and coming face to face inside the civic body.
The controversy centred on the election of the Scheduled Caste Welfare Committee. BJP candidates were declared elected unopposed, but AAP strongly objected to the way the election was conducted.
AAP councillors claimed the election, which they said was scheduled for 3 pm, was brought forward and held when their members were not present. They also questioned the decision to reduce the committee’s strength from 35 members to 21.
AAP said the change could give the BJP an advantage in choosing the committee’s chairperson and vice chairperson. The party also alleged that its request to postpone the election and reconsider the committee’s composition was ignored.
The BJP, however, has a different account.
Mayor Pravesh Wahi said AAP had failed to submit nomination forms within the required time. As a result, BJP candidates were declared elected unopposed. He rejected the allegation that the election was deliberately conducted to keep AAP out.
The disagreement soon spilled into the Mayor’s chamber. AAP councillors raised slogans and protested, leading to a heated exchange with the Mayor and others present.
In the middle of the commotion, AAP councillor Prem Chauhan tore his kurta, adding another dramatic moment to an already tense confrontation.
The Mayor criticised the behaviour of the protesting councillors and accused them of crossing the line. AAP, meanwhile, defended its protest and said the issue was bigger than the election itself, arguing that the rights of Dalit councillors were at stake.
At the heart of the dispute are two questions: Was the election conducted properly, and was the decision to cut the committee’s strength from 35 to 21 justified?
For now, AAP and BJP remain firmly at odds over the issue, with neither side backing down. What began as a committee election has become yet another flashpoint in the increasingly bitter political battle inside Delhi’s civic body.
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