MCD standing committee election: Delhi BJP alleges irregularities, demands fresh voting

The Delhi BJP on Thursday demanded a fresh poll for MCD standing committee member elections due to irregularities by AAP. At a joint press conference, party MP Parvesh Verma said that despite objections from BJP councillors, newly elected mayor Shelly Oberoi of AAP allowed members to carry mobile phones into the booth area during voting.

He claimed that even the municipal secretary in his report to the authorities recommended a new vote for the election of the members of the standing committee. Verma alleged that the use of mobile phones was allowed by the mayor to check cross-voting of AAP councillors. AAP councilors who cast their votes clicked pictures and sent them to AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, Verma alleged.

The election began on Wednesday evening but was marred by a protest by BJP councilors against the decision of the mayor, who was presiding over the voting process, to allow councilors to carry mobile phones while casting their votes. Hours after several adjourned nights, the MCD House was finally adjourned for the day on Thursday morning without the election of standing committee members.

Northeast Delhi's BJP MP Manoj Tiwari alleged that the AAP leadership was afraid of cross-voting by its councillors, which is why its mayor allowed mobile phones while casting votes. Tiwari also accused the AAP councilors of resorting to "hooliganism". He alleged that BJP councilor Pramod Gupta was slapped by AAP councillors. He said the BJP would continue to protest against the mayor's decision to allow MPs to carry mobile phones to vote in the standing committee elections.

Tiwari accused Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia of "hooliganism" by AAP councillors, saying they were incited by his tweet about "fools" being defeated after the BJP's loss in the mayoral polls on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Verna claimed that a total of 55 ballot papers were distributed for the election, of which 45 were used to cast votes while the rest were unanswered. He also alleged that the ballot box was sealed on the mayor's instructions without the presence of any BJP councillor.