Protest rocks MCD House as BJP raises drowning deaths, delay in mayoral elections

MCD House adjourned amid BJP-AAP ruckus over mayoral polls delay, waterlogging incidents, and slashed development budgets.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House was adjourned without a discussion on Wednesday as ruckus marred its proceedings, with the BJP seeking to corner the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the delay in the mayoral polls and the incidents of drowning due to waterlogging in the city.

The BJP members also blamed AAP for the delay in the constitution of the MCD Standing Committee — the civic body’s main decision-making arm that has executive powers to grant approval to projects worth over ₹5 crore.

The constitution of the crucial panel has been pending since the mayoral polls that were held in March 2023.

The House was adjourned twice — for 15 and 30 minutes respectively. However, the protest continued. Several BJP members entered the Well of the House with banners amid continuous sloganeering, leading to the suspension of BJP councillors Gajender Singh Daral (Mundka), Pankaj Luthra (Jhilmil), Amit Nagpal (Pitampura), and Ravinder Negi (Vinod Nagar).

The Leader of the Opposition, Raja Iqbal Singh, opposed the suspension of his party councillors. “This is completely unconstitutional,” he said.

On the other hand, AAP members blamed the BJP for “misusing the House proceedings to protest”. “They did not let us talk about waterlogging or pose questions to officials,” said AAP’s Manglapuri councillor Narender Kumar.

An AAP councillor said it was wrong to blame his party for the delay in the mayoral elections as these were postponed by Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena in April this year.