Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday strongly objected to the order issued by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, V.K. Saxena, for holding elections for a vacancy in the MCD Standing Committee.
Kejriwal said according to the MCD laws, it is only the Mayor who can summon a session. “The MCD has mentioned that only the Mayor can summon the corporation’s meeting. Nobody else can do it. The LG cannot call it. The Commissioner cannot call it. Only the Mayor can do it,” he said.
He also referred to the statutory requirement of 72 hours’ notice before a session, so that councillors can prepare themselves. Kejriwal said that he suspects there is some motive behind the hurry for elections. “Their intentions appear mala fide. There appears to be a conspiracy to manipulate the situation,” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal said that the Mayor wrote to the Commissioner, declaring today’s election illegal and unconstitutional and requesting its cancellation. The MCD ordered the election for the vacancy to occur on September 26 at 2:00 PM. The election did not take place because Mayor Shelly Oberoi adjourned the meeting to October 5 after councilors were not allowed to carry mobile phones inside the polling booth.
On another note, Kejriwal took to the issue of the broken roads in Delhi. He also said that all the legislators and ministers would inspect and repair roads within the next two to three days. He called for a city-wide assessment of road conditions.
Kejriwal, on Thursday, conducted a tour of the road conditions accompanied by Delhi CM Atishi. Kejriwal assured locals that stalled repair work would very soon start afresh. There had been some delays, he said, during his recent imprisonment.
To sum up, Kejriwal is bothered by two things: whether the MCD elections followed the rule of law. And the pressing issue of repairing the worn-out roads of the capital. And in his utterances, one also finds echoes of commitment to transparent governance and accountability.
ANI
