Ahead of Delhi mayor election, AAP, BJP fight over who will take oath first

After presiding officer Satya Sharma asked BJP-appointed Alderman Manoj Kumar to take oath first, AAP protested, saying the winning party was being sidelined

Ruckus between councilors of AAP and BJP during the mayoral polls in Delhi on Friday. (Express Photo: Praveen Khanna)

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Ahead of voting for the Delhi mayor elections, a ruckus broke out between Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors on Friday over who would take oath first, with the AAP blaming the BJP for ensuring a departure from procedural norms.

The ruckus started after presiding officer Satya Sharma asked BJP-appointed Alderman Manoj Kumar to take oath first.

AAP started protesting and the Leader of the House Mukesh Goel said it was for the first time in the history of 25 years of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls that the winning party was being sidelined and the runner-up BJP was being asked to take oath first.

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As per convention, AAP sources contended, the senior-most councillor — in this case, Adarsh Nagar councillor Mukesh Kumar Goel — should have been nominated the presiding officer of the meeting to elect the mayor.

However, party sources alleged, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena decided on BJP’s Gautampuri ward councillor Satya Sharma and sent the file directly to the chief secretary for notification.

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“As per Constitution and as per SC orders, if L-G differs with the opinion of any minister, he cannot take a decision himself but has to refer the matter to the President,” a party source said.

“Before referring the matter to the President, L-G is supposed to discuss the matter with the minister to find a solution and refer it to Cabinet for discussions. However, L-G did not do any of that and directly got the notification done,” the source added.

Jatin Anand

Jatin Anand is an Assistant Editor with the national political bureau of The Indian Express. Over the last 16 years, he has covered governance, politics, bureaucracy, crime, traffic, intelligence, the Election Commission of India and Urban Development among other beats. He is an English (Literature) graduate from Zakir Husain Delhi College, DU & specialised in Print at the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai. He tweets @jatinpaul ... Read More

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