4 min readNew DelhiNov 13, 2024 08:33 AM IST
First published on: Nov 13, 2024 at 03:32 AM IST
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has seen a year more fit for a soap opera than a local government body.
From councillors scaling benches, snatching microphones, carrying personal microphones and playing campaign jingles, to singing devotional songs mid-session, MCD meetings over the last year-and-a-half have become a spectacle of political theatrics.
While the AAP has accused the BJP of “deliberately avoiding discussions”, the BJP has accused it of “tactically creating circumstances” to encourage a clash and adjournment.
Elections for a new Mayor are now scheduled on Thursday, after several disruptions and a Supreme Court verdict.
Since AAP’s Shelly Oberoi became Mayor in February 2023, 18 consecutive MCD House sessions have been adjourned without discussion — the highest in recent years in the civic body’s history, according to information received from MCD officials.
Consider this:
– August 2024: The Mayor arrived 45 minutes late. Opposition councillors, already riled up over the delay in Standing Committee elections, tore agenda pages and hurled them toward the Mayor’s podium. The meeting was adjourned within 10 to 15 minutes amid sloganeering.
– June 2024: BJP councillors protested the Mayor’s late arrival, resulting in an adjournment in 15 minutes, with key discussions such as a proposal to automatically increase parking charges as pollution rises postponed.
– January 2024: BJP councillors blocked the Mayor’s access to her seat and prevented the municipal secretary from entering the House. The standoff lasted for hours, requiring police presence to restore order.
– July 2023: A BJP councillor allegedly grabbed the microphone from AAP’s Leader of the House mid-speech and handed it over to BJP’s Leader of the Opposition. The session was adjourned within 10 minutes, leaving the agenda untouched.
Budget presentations were no different, with abrupt cancellations and delays. The Standing Committee, an 18-member body without which no projects exceeding Rs 5 crore can be passed, is yet to be constituted.
In September, a session scheduled for the election of the final Standing Committee seat devolved into a confrontation over security measures. AAP councillors protested the heavy-handed checks, leading to adjournments. The following day, the BJP secured a majority in the Standing Committee after both AAP and Congress boycotted the vote. However, the victory was short-lived as AAP challenged the results in court, preventing the Standing Committee from being formally constituted.
Holding one MCD House session costs approximately Rs 3 lakh, officials said. “There are costs incurred in printing meeting agendas (more than 300 copies); 24 riders are hired so the agenda can be delivered to each councillor; there is the cost of petrol as a councillor is paid Rs 300 to attend each session that adds up to Rs 75,000; arrangements are made for refreshments too,” an MCD official said.
Oberoi did not respond to questions regarding the adjournments.
In response to questions posed by The Indian Express, AAP said, “As soon as House meetings start, BJP councillors begin making noise, shouting slogans, and holding up banners. They even go as far as climbing onto chairs, and sometimes onto the Mayor’s chair… The BJP has incessantly tried to disrupt work, either by undemocratically holding the Standing Committee election or flouting the rules of MCD House.”
The BJP hit back. “Fearing a revolt by its councillors, the AAP leadership tactically creates circumstances for a clash to happen with the Opposition. We anticipate it will happen on Thursday as the AAP leadership does not want to go into mayoral polls,” Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said.
MCD meetings over the last year-and-a-half have become a spectacle of political theatrics. (Archive) 
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