AAP councillors participated within the election course of regardless of mayor Shelly Oberoi‘s refusal to appoint presiding officers a day earlier. The elections had been carried out by the deputy commissioners of the zones.
Formation of the zonal or ward committees and election of chairman and deputy chairman – in addition to one councillor for the standing committee – in every of the 12 zones had been pending for 20 months for the reason that civic polls in December 2022. These zonal committees will facilitate decentralisation of discussions on area-specific points and expedite options, in addition to sanctioning and implementing initiatives.
Earlier than the ward committee elections had been held on Wednesday, mayor Shelly Oberoi wrote to MCD commissioner Ashwani Kumar that the deputy commissioners weren’t the presiding officers and could not preside over or conduct any ballot.
Later within the day, the mayor herself took half within the ward committee election in Karol Bagh. In accordance with sources, AAP is prone to pursue the matter in court docket.
Within the letter, marked to all zonal deputy commissioners of Municipal Company of Delhi, Oberoi requested them to not preside over the zonal ward committee election course of whereas calling the election notices issued by the municipal secretary “null and void”.
“Regardless of the instructions to the commissioner and the municipal secretary to increase the timeline of elections for the chairman, deputy chairman and one member of Standing Committee from the ward committee of every zone of MCD, the commissioner had approached the workplace of lieutenant governor requesting instructions beneath Part 487 of DMC Act 1957, and an order was issued thereafter. It’s famous that the order issued was interpreted incorrectly and, subsequently, null and void ab initio,” she wrote.
Part 487 of Delhi Municipal Act, she added, doesn’t make provisions for “usurping the powers which may solely be exercised by the duly elected mayor… that’s, of appointing the presiding officers for the mentioned elections”.
It would not envisage that central govt or LG can take away the facility granted to 1 municipal authority and provides it to a different, Oberoi claimed. “Moreover, there was no show-cause issued as per the requirement within the proviso asking why such instructions is probably not issued, thereby making the order by the commissioner null and void,” she wrote.
The communication got here a day after LG VK Saxena intervened within the zonal committee election course of, directing the MCD commissioner to nominate the deputy commissioners to preside over the polls after the mayor’s refusal to nominate presiding officers.
At 9pm on Tuesday, Oberoi refused to nominate the presiding officers for the elections to the 12 ward committees on Wednesday, saying her conscience did not enable her to take part in an undemocratic election course of and referred to as for a restart.
