Delhi chief minister Atishi on Saturday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after it won the lone vacant seat in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) standing committee.
"The MCD election that the BJP has carried out is illegal, unconstitutional, and undemocratic. Our nation runs with the Constitution and with the rules laid out in the Constitution. The parliament had passed a law, the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957. Under that act, there are a lot of rules, laws, byelaws with which the MCD runs," ANI quoted the chief minister as saying.
“Firstly in the regulations, it is written clearly that the election will happen in the Corporation's meeting. Secondly, in Regulation 3, sub-section 2, it is written that only the mayor has the power to decide the time, place and date of the meeting.”
"Thirdly, the DMC Act's section 76 tells clearly that whenever there is a meeting, the mayor will be the presiding officer and if the mayor is not there, then the deputy mayor will preside. All this is not said by me, it is the law which is saying this, the act is saying this, the byelaws and regulations in the act are saying this but the BJP does not care about the constitution, laws or even destroying democracy," Atishi added.
On Friday, BJP's Sunder Singh won the election against AAP's Nirmala Kumari who did not get any vote as her party and Congress boycotted the polls. Delhi mayor Shelly Oberoi had directed the MCD commissioner to conduct election for the sixth seat on October 5.
‘Delhi LG does not have power to call for an election’: Atishi
The chief minister further said,"Even when LG does not have the power for it, he gives an order, the commissioner, an IAS officer follows that order and carries it out without having any power to do so. But this is not the first time it has happened, this is BJP's standard operating procedure. Wherever they don't win the election, they try to make the government through the chor darwaza (thief's door)."
"We have seen how between 2014 to 2024, wherever, the BJP lost an election, through Operation Lotus, they have bought MLAs and netas, put pressure on them through CBI and ED and formed the government. They did so in various states like Maharashtra, Goa, Manipur etc," she added.
She further vowed that the party will move to the Supreme Court against the elections held on Friday.
“We will definitely go to the Supreme Court and a petition will be filed in the Supreme Court today because the election that the BJP conducted in the House yesterday is completely illegal,” the CM said.
"The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act is very clear that the power to call a meeting is only with the Mayor, the right to preside over the meeting is only with the Mayor and in her absence, the Deputy Mayor. So, we will go to the Supreme Court against this undemocratic election and today itself we will apply to this illegal, unconstitutional, undemocratic election in the Supreme Court," Atishi added.
