Scramble for crucial MCD panel begins

New Delhi
With the Supreme Court ending a 20-month logjam over the nomination of aldermen in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), paving the way for the constitution of a standing committee, the BJP-AAP tussle to hold onto this powerful panel will throw the spotlight on at least four swing seats, senior civic functionaries say.
The elevation of former Dwarka councillor Kamaljeet Sehrawat as West Delhi member of parliament (MP) may end up hurting the BJP’s prospect for the vacant seat. Additionally, the difference in the number of councillors is too close for three swing seats of Central, Narela and Civil Lines zones. The two parties have already started scrambling to secure support as anti-defection laws do not apply to these elections, according to councillors.
One vacant seat
The standing committee comprises 18 members, of whom six are directly elected in the house meeting and the remaining 12 come from the wards committee, i.e., the 12 administrative zones. The direct elections for six members last year saw violence, repeated disruptions and pandemonium.
Mayor Shelly Oberoi, who was chairing the election meeting in February 2023, ruled that a re-poll would be held and BJP took the matter to the Delhi high court. On May 23, the high court set aside the mayor’s decision to hold re-election for six members, with AAP and BJP securing three seats each.
A senior MCD official, not wishing to be named, said that Kamaljeet Sehrawat was among one of the three, who resigned from the post of councillor for Dwarka-B ward in June. “The previous round of election witnessed disputes over proportionate priority voting with each voter assigning first, second, third and so on. Since members will be voting for only one seat, it will be a direct contest. Since AAP has clear majority in the house, they seem to have upper hand in winning this contest,” the official said.
The elections are held through a secret ballot and cross-voting is permitted.
The official clarified that the election on the seat vacated by Sehrawat will come second in the order of things during the general meeting of the house. “First, we will hold the elections for wards committees at the Civic Centre through which a chairman, deputy chairman and standing committee from each zone will be elected,” the official said.
The process will be triggered by obtaining consent from the mayor, which is likely in the next couple of days, the civic official said.
Each vote matters
The remaining 12 members of the panel are elected indirectly through ward committees. Based on the distribution of councillors, the BJP has a clear advantage in four zones: East Delhi’s Shahdara North, Shahdara South, Najafgarh zone and Keshavpuram zone.
Similarly, AAP has an advantage in five, namely South, West, Karol Bagh, City Sadar Paharganj and Rohini. “The three zones where the aldermen have been nominated will be under the spotlight as there is the possibility of Central, Narela and Civil Lines to be swing zones, which may end up deciding the fate of the panel,” a second official said, adding the closest fight is expected in Central zone.
The distribution of the members in the Narela committee shows that AAP has 10 members, BJP has five, one independent and four nominated aldermen, with both parties evenly poised. The zone saw one AAP councillor, Pawan Sehrawat, defecting to the BJP in February last year and returning to the party fold in May.
Since anti-defection law does not apply to MCD, there have been several crossovers to BJP over the past year.
AAP councillor from Dwarka-C, Sunita, defected to the BJP in April 2023. On July 10, the BJP added to its ranks Said-Ul-Ajaib councillor Umed Singh Phogat and last Saturday, added Bhati ward councillor Sundar Tanwar. Multiple MCD councillors, on condition of anonymity, acknowledged that the parties have already started informally approaching them to seek support.
A BJP leader said that more councillors are likely to join the party in the coming weeks and the party has decided to contest these elections to win.
Civil Lines has nine AAP and six BJP councillors, who will be joined by four aldermen, essentially tipping the balance in favour of the BJP. The Central zone will be tightly contested due to multiple factors. Of 27 voters, 13 are from the AAP and 10 from the BJP, who will be joined by two nominated aldermen, making 12 votes; another two are from the Congress.
“The two Congress councillors can tip the balance in favour of any party. The BJP has helped Congress councillor Nazia Danish become a Haj Committee member in February last year. Both parties are vying for these two Congress votes,” a third official said.
Eventually, it is still likely that both parties may end up securing nine members of the standing committee each. “Such a situation has not arisen in the past for election of standing committee chairman. A toss of coin or draw of lots will be used to elect the chairman in such a case,” the official added.