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The councillors of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday wrote to MCD’s presiding officer seeking debarment of aldermen from voting in the election of mayor, deputy mayor and Standing Committee on Monday, saying that if it happens, it will be an insult to the people of Delhi.
Aam Aadmi Party’s 134 councillors said nominated members cannot vote in accordance with the Constitution and the DMC Act. The councillors have raised their concerns regarding BJP’s conduct preceding the election which “shows an intention to influence and manipulate the exercise”, according to the letter.
“We, therefore, humbly request you that under no circumstance, the nominated members (aldermen) be allowed to vote in the upcoming elections of Mayor, Dy Mayor and Standing Committee. Any attempt on the part of the nominated councillors (Alderman) to vote in the … election will be direct affront and insult to the mandate of the people of Delhi which had sent the Aam Aadmi Party with a majority to the MCD in the 2022 elections,” the letter said.
As per the DMC Act 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to be elected in the very first House that convenes after the civic polls. However, it’s been two months since the municipal elections were held, and Delhi is still to get a mayor.
Meanwhile, after disrupting the proceedings of Parliament for two consecutive days, opposition parties are likely to participate in the discussion on the President’s speech in both Houses on Monday. However, the stalemate is likely to continue in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as the Congress-led Opposition will try to corner the government over the exposure of the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to the Adani Group amid a rout of share prices of its listed firms.
The Congress has called a meeting of like-minded opposition outfits on Monday to work on the joint floor strategy to corner the government in Parliament. While most parties want a resumption of debate, they remained divided over the demand for a joint parliamentary committee or Supreme Court-monitored probe to look into the Adani issue.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties on Sunday stepped up their attack on the Modi government over the Adani issue, with the Congress alleging that its “silence smacks of collusion”.
Ahead of the party’s planned nationwide protests on Monday, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said they will pose three questions a day to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue and “your government cannot hide from saying ‘HAHK’ (Hum Adani Ke Hain Kaun)”.
“What action has been taken, if ever, to investigate the serious allegations made over the years against the Adani Group and is there any hope of a fair and impartial investigation in the matter under the prime minister,” he said in a statement and asked the prime minister to break his “silence” over the issue.
Telangana Chief Minister and BRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao endorsed the demand of opposition parties for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to look into the “scam”, while BSP chief Mayawati said India’s image is at stake but the government is taking the issue “very lightly”.
Adani group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after US-based activist short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation against the Gautam Adani-led group which has dismissed the allegations as lies.
The opposition parties have alleged that the recent meltdown in Adani Group shares is a scam that involves common people’s money as public sector LIC and SBI have invested in them.
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