As efforts to elect a new Delhi mayor failed for the third time on Monday, AAP MP Sanjay Singh flagged a “dangerous pattern” in the behaviour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) post elections.
Speaking to The New Indian in the parliament, the Rajya Sabha MP member said that the BJP had been making unsuccessful attempts to buy newly-elected AAP councillors in order to get its own councillor elected as the mayor.
“Attempts to elect a new mayor are not bearing any fruit because BJP’s horse-trading efforts have not succeeded. It amounts to murdering democracy and throttling the Constitution,” he said.
“If this trend continues, they won’t let new CM or PM take an oath if they lose elections,” he said, calling it a “dangerous trend”.
On Monday, councillors gathered at the municipal corporation building to elect the mayor two months after the conduct of civic polls in the national capital region. However, the meeting was marred by chaos and commotion triggered by a protest over a change in rules which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleged will favour the BJP.
AAP has announced to seek the Supreme Court’s intervention to conduct a court-monitored election for the mayor within 10 days.
Though AAP has a majority in the corporation after its big win in the December civic polls, the party is apprehensive that a secret ballot and cross-voting could change the outcome.
“We want the election and we want Delhi to have a mayor. The right of nominated persons to vote at the meetings of the corporation is specifically barred under Article 243 R,” said AAP’s Atishi, accusing the BJP of deliberately stalling the process with their protests.
AAP has strongly opposed voting rights for the aldermen nominated by the Lieutenant Governor, who is the Centre’s representative in Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal’s party has alleged that these members are inclined to support the BJP.
Deputy CM Manish Sisodia has accused the BJP of stalling the mayor’s election. “The BJP is not allowing Delhi to get a new mayor even two months after the poll. BJP wants to run the house with hooliganism,” he said.