Mayoral polls: Delhi CM approves Mukesh Goel as presiding officer

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has recommended the name of AAP councillor Mukesh Goel as the presiding officer for the MCD mayoral polls to be held on April 26.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday tweeted that he has approved the name of the “senior-most councillor” Mukesh Goel as the presiding officer for the mayoral elections scheduled for April 26.

The CM said the relevant file has been sent to Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. Mr. Kejriwal added that his decision is “binding on” the L-G, “unless he [Mr. Saxena] decides to refer the matter to the President”.

No immediate response was provided by the L-G’s office.

However, Mr. Kejriwal’s tweet drew a sharp reaction from Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, who argued that L-G is not bound to appoint the presiding officer based on the Chief Minister’s suggestion and accused the latter of misleading the public.

According to Section 77 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) Act, the L-G has to nominate a councillor who is not a candidate for the internal elections to preside over the exercise.

“Nowhere in the Act is it written that the Lieutenant-Governor is bound to accept the suggestion of the Chief Minister. There are many legal experts available with the Chief Minister. It would have been better if he had understood the constitutional position before tweeting on this issue,” said Mr. Kapoor.

The appointment of the presiding officer has remained a controversial subject. Earlier, a row erupted between AAP and the L-G over the latter’s decision to appoint BJP councillor Satya Sharma to preside over the mayoral polls, which was first held in February.