BJP defeats AAP in MCD ward polls to dominate civic agency, mayor says results not valid

New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) The BJP on Wednesday defeated the AAP in the MCD zonal ward polls, sealing its dominance in the highest decision making body of the civic agency -- the standing committee.

The BJP bagged the posts of chairman, deputy chairman of the zonal-level ward committees, and one member each for standing committee in seven of 12 zones, restricting AAP to five zones in the keenly contested poll.

Delhi mayor Shelly Oberoi, who refused to appoint presiding officers for the ward committee polls, on Wednesday said the election would be considered "null and void".

Amid a heavy deployment of police personnel to prevent any untoward incident, the polls went off smoothly -- a rare sight to behold when compared to MCD's failed attempt to hold the standing committee elections in 2022 which ended up in a violent clash between councillors.

Till Tuesday evening, there was a cloud of uncertainty over the ward committee polls as Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi had refused to appoint the presiding officers to conduct the elections saying her conscience does not allow her to participate in an "undemocratic election process".

However, in a last-minute intervention, Lt Governor V K Saxena late Tuesday night asked MCD commissioner to notify deputy commissioners of all zones as presiding officers, paving way for the elections to take place.

Saxena exercised the special power granted to him after a central gazette notification was made public on Tuesday which granted absolute powers to him to constitute any authority, board and commission.

Hinting at a future tussle over the standing committee, Oberoi in a fresh letter to the MCD commissioner said the results of the elections will be considered "null and void" stating that appointments made by the LG were not legally valid and it "encroached upon powers of the mayor".

"I, therefore, direct that the Order issued by Commissioner dated 03.09.2024 and the Notice dated 03.09.2024 issued by Municipal Secretary are null and void and any election conducted pursuant to such Order and Notice will therefore, for reasons stated above, also be null and void. All Deputy Commissioners are hereby directed that they are not Presiding Officers and are not to preside over any elections," the letter said.

Meanwhile, celebrations erupted at the MCD headquarters in Central Delhi as results started ticking in and councillors of the winning party were seen garlanding their victorious candidates and raising slogans in their support.

Voting in Karol Bagh and City SP did not take place as the BJP did not field a candidate, while in Keshav Puram, BJP's was the sole candidate in fray.

The BJP bagged Narela, Civil Lines, Keshav Puram, Shahdara North, Najafgarh, Shahdara South, and Central Zones, while AAP won Karol Bagh, West, South, City SP and Rohini zones.

Pawan Shehrawat and Sugandha, the councillors who recently switched sides from the AAP to BJP, won the post of chairman for the ward committees from Narela and Central zones, respectively.

The Civil Lines Zone saw a keen contest between the AAP and BJP with the saffron party winning all three posts by a margin of one vote each.

Anil Kumar Tyagi defeated Ajeet Singh Yadav by polling 10 votes, while Rekha triumphed over her rival Gagan Chaudhary in a similar fashion.

Former North Delhi mayor and BJP leader of opposition in MCD Raja Iqbal Singh defeated Promila Gupta of AAP by polling 10 votes as against nine by her.

In the Karol Bagh Zone, AAP councillor Rakesh Joshi was elected unopposed as chairman of the ward committee, while Jyoti Gautam and Ankush Narang bagged the posts of deputy chairman and member of the standing committee in absence of any BJP candidate.

AAP candidates Mohd Sadiq, Kiran Bala, and Punardeep Singh Sawhney were elected unopposed as chairman, deputy chairman of the ward committee, and member of the standing committee from City SP Zone in the absence of any candidates from the BJP.

BJP candidates were elected unopposed from the Keshav Puram Zone.

In South Zone, cross voting led to a tie between the BJP and AAP. Through lottery, the AAP won the zonal chairman post. The party's candidates also won the posts of chairman and standing committee member.

In Rohini, AAP's Suman Anil Rana won the president's post by defeating her BJP rival. Dharam Rakshak and Daulat bagged the posts of deputy chairman and standing committee member after the BJP candidates withdrew nominations for the two posts.

In the West Zone, the BJP candidates withdrew their nominations for the three posts.

The Shahdara North Zone saw BJP candidates emerging victorious after defeating their Congress rivals. The voting for the ward committee polls in the zone went on for the longest time.

The Congress, which has nine councillors, had fielded candidates from the Shahdara North Zone. AAP candidates withdrew their nomination for the post of chairman and deputy chairman, while Congress candidate withdrew her nomination from the standing committee member.

Former East Delhi mayor Neema Bhagat was elected as a standing committee member from Shahdara South Zone.

The voting was held in two clusters of all MCD zones, held simultaneously with councillors of five zones casting their votes together, while the remaining zones went to polls separately.

The elections were held through secret ballot in accordance with the Delhi Municipal Corporation Regulations, 1958.

Police had beefed up security arrangements in and around the Civic Centre located in Central Delhi ahead of the polls.

A company of paramilitary personnel along with local police was deployed at the spot.

After its unification, the MCD elections for 250 wards were held for the first time in 2022. PTI SJJ NSM SLB KVK KVK