AAP moves SC, demands mayoral election on time

In its suit before the apex court, the AAP has also sought prohibition on voting by aldermen as per law

NEW DELHI | Updated: 26 January, 2023 8:49 pm IST

AAP mayoral candidate Dr Shelly Oberoi approached the Supreme Court over the issue of the non-appointment of a mayor in Delhi

The tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reached the Supreme Court over the issue of the non-appointment of a mayor in the national capital.

The AAP has demanded the mayoral election be held under a time bound manner.

The appointment of the mayor and deputy mayor has been stalled twice due to the lack of consensus between the two parties over the election process.

In its suit before the apex court, the AAP has also sought a prohibition on voting by aldermen as per law. The petition was filed by the AAP’s mayoral nominee, Dr Shelly Oberoi, on January 26, and the hearing is likely to happen on January 27.

AAP Chief spokesperson and MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “People of Delhi gave the majority to the Aam Aadmi Party in MCD, but the BJP is not allowing us to form a government in MCD. The Aam Aadmi Party has moved to the Supreme Court through its Leader of the House and Mayor candidate.”

“We have placed two major demands in the Supreme Court, the first is to elect the mayor in a time-bound manner and form the government in MCD,” Bharadwaj said.

“Second, as aldermen do not have the right to vote under Article 243R of the Constitution and Section 3 of the DMC Act, they should be prohibited from casting votes,” an AAP MLA said.

Bharadwaj said the BJP’s MCD tenure ended in March 2022 itself. He said they had no moral right to capture and illegally control MCD for so long.

“MCD was taken over by the central government under the guise of unification and delimitation works. Now the people of Delhi have given a majority to the AAP in the MCD and elected 134 councillors from the AAP. Despite that, the BJP is not allowing the AAP to take control of MCD due to its conspiracy and dirty politics. Despite many efforts, they are not allowing the election of the mayor and the formation of the government to take place,” Bharadwaj said.