Shelly Oberoi being ‘remote controlled’ by senior AAP leaders, alleges BJP

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday alleged that Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi sits as a "dummy" in municipal meetings and instead of applying her own civic wisdom, is being "remotely controlled" by senior AAP leaders for decision-making.

Senior BJP leader and former South Delhi Mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat made the allegation during a press conference at the saffron party's Delhi unit headquarters. There was no immediate response from Oberoi or AAP. Oberoi either "remains mute" or reacts with a sense of delay, as if she receives "some instructions" from AAP leaders like Atishi, who mostly "remotely feeds information" to her via mobile, Sehrawat claimed.

In meetings, the mayor is expected to apply his own wisdom and work with all councilors and other leaders for the common good of the city, she said. “But she is accompanied by AAP leaders Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj in meetings with department heads and others she attends. And she sits there as a 'gungi gudiya (dummy)' and does not participate in discussions while these two AAP leaders take decisions,” the BJP leader claimed.

Sehrawat said the AAP's permission should "allow" the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to function according to its autonomy and not seek "remote control" of the civic administration. She also alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi was trying to "hand over 1,400 kilometers of public works department roads to a private concessionaire" through a government memo and that the AAP dispensation was also trying to "destroy" the capital's sanitation system. "And if Mayor Shelly Oberoi sides with the AAP government on these issues and allows itself to be controlled from afar, then the BJP as a strong opposition will protest vehemently," Sehrawat said.

Repairs of broken pavements, medians and manholes, resurfacing of roads and daily sprinkling of water are some of the initiatives that will be undertaken as part of the Delhi government's mega project to transform the city's roads, which will begin on April 1. The chief minister said in late January that he would convert 1,400 kilometers of roads that fall under the jurisdiction of Delhi's public works department.

During a press conference on Saturday, former East Delhi Mayor Harsh Malhotra also leveled allegations against the AAP's acquittal of trying to "destroy the autonomy" of the MCD. During the briefing, two news clips were played, one about the landfills and the other about the meeting chaired by the mayor. Malhotra claimed that the Center is planning to raze three dump sites in Delhi and is constantly working on it, along with the city authorities. But Kejriwal tries to argue otherwise.

Kejriwal visited the Okhla landfill site on Friday and said the aim is to remove all the three mountains of garbage by December 2024. Oberoi, who was elected as Delhi Mayor on February 22, accompanied the chief minister to the dump. She also instructed officials to undertake special drives to repair civic hospitals, officials said.

According to a statement issued from Oberoi's office, she also presided over a meeting with senior officials of engineering and IT departments on Friday and reviewed various ongoing and completed projects in various fields. The mayor said it is important for the civic agency to work together to solve the problems facing the city in a timely and efficient manner. On Thursday, Oberoi chaired a review meeting with deputy commissioners of all 12 MCD zones.