New Delhi: The AAP on Monday held a protest outside the BJP headquarters here over the aldermen nominated by the Lt Governor to the MCD House being administered oath before the elected representatives and accused the saffron party of flouting rules. The protest was led by Delhi minister Raaj Kumar Anand, AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj and party leader Adil Ahmad Khan. The AAP leaders were stopped by the Delhi Police as they proceeded to march from the party office to the BJP headquarters.
Delhi Minister Rajkumar Anand said that their protest is against the manner in which the saffron party is opposing democratic procedures as was highlighted on the day of the Mayoral election. AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj also claimed that the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is misusing his post in a bid to favour the BJP.
Meanwhile, BJP workers protested outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence. The police detained several leaders of the Delhi BJP unit, including BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva, MP Pravesh Verma, MLA Anil Bajpai, Dinesh Pratap Singh, Sunil Yadav, former Mayor Jai Prakash. The police have taken them to Civil Lines Police Station.
On January 6, the maiden meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House was adjourned without electing the mayor and deputy mayor as BJP and AAP councillors exchanged heated words and came to blows over presiding officer Satya Sharma administering oath to the aldermen first and not the elected representatives.
Only four aldermen could take oath before the House plunged into chaos. The AAP alleged that the BJP made the aldermen take oath first in order to get them voting rights for the mayor and deputy mayor elections. "We are here to protest against what was done on January 6. We feel that these nominated aldermen were administered oath first as they might be given voting rights. We want a statement from the LG that they will not vote and only then our protest will end," said AAP's mayoral candidate Shelly Oberoi.
Lt Governor V K Saxena had nominated 10 aldermen to the MCD House on January 3. The AAP had alleged that all the nominated members were BJP workers and the civic body sent their names directly to Saxena without keeping the city government in the loop. Aldermen refers to people who are experts in their fields. However, they do not have voting rights in the mayoral election. (With Agency inputs)
