Plea for MCD mayoral election: SC to list for hearing petition of AAP candidate on Feb 3

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list for hearing on February 3 a plea of Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi seeking directions to ensure the mayoral election in Delhi in a time-bound manner. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justice Dipankar Datta took note of the submissions of senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Oberoi, on early holding of the mayoral poll for MCD. It will be listed on February 3, the CJI said.

The mayoral election in the national capital was stalled on Tuesday last for the second time this month as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House was adjourned indefinitely by the lieutenant governor-appointed presiding officer, following a ruckus created by some councillors. AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj, on Thursday, accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of hooliganism and halting the MCD proceedings and said that Leader of the House Mukesh Goel and Oberoi have approached the top court for directions to ensure that the mayoral election is conducted in a time-bound manner.

Bharadwaj had said the party had also sought a prohibition on the aldermen casting their votes. "We have placed two major demands in the Supreme Court, the first is to elect the mayor in a time-bound manner and form the board in the MCD. Second, as the aldermen do not have the right to vote under Article 243R of the Constitution and section 3 of the DMC Act, they should be prohibited from casting votes," he said on Thursday.

"They have no moral right to capture and illegally control the MCD for so long. The MCD was put under the central government on the pretext of unification and delimitation. The people of Delhi have given the mandate in the MCD to the AAP and despite that, the BJP has resorted to dirty politics. They (BJP leaders) have been creating a ruckus and not allowing the mayoral election to be conducted," Bharadwaj had said. The first meeting of the newly-elected MCD House was also adjourned on January 6 amid a ruckus by the AAP and BJP members.
The AAP won 134 of the 250 wards in the MCD polls held in December. The BJP managed to win 104 wards. 

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