Delhi BJP stages protest against AAP for 'disrupting' mayoral election

Delhi BJP leaders, including party councillors, MPs and MLAs, on Tuesday staged a protest near the AAP office here, accusing the party of disrupting the mayoral election in the MCD House meeting.

The meeting of the newly elected Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House was adjourned third time in a month on Monday along with the elections of the mayor, deputy mayor and standing committee members.

The House was adjourned amid a protest by AAP councillors and leaders over the presiding officer's decision to extend the voting right to nominated councillors (aldermen) for electing a mayor.

Leading the protest outside AAP headquarter on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party was delaying the mayoral election because of an internal rift.

''The AAP councilors and leaders resorted to hooliganism and subverted constitutional norms inside the house. They snatched presiding officer's mike, created ruckus, climbed on the tables and hurt BJP female corporators and now they are saying that the mayoral election are not being held,'' Sachdeva said.

The AAP need to give up ''hooliganism'' which is ''ruining'' Delhi, he added.

West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma slammed the AAP for opposing voting rights to the aldermen, saying that it was not written anywhere that they can not vote in the mayoral election.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramveer Singh Bidhuri alleged that AAP councillors created ''ruckus'' in the MCD House at the behest of AAP convener and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

South Delhi BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri alleged that Kejriwal was ''worried'' about a ''split'' in his party over elections in the House meeting as the party had fielded two candidates each for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor. The protest was also attended by BJP's mayoral candidate Rekha Gupta, deputy mayor candidate Kamal Bagdi and standing committee member candidates Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Gajendra Daral and Pankaj Luthra, and all newly elected councillors among others.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)