This first meeting of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi ended abruptly following a clash between leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party.
The brawl erupted between rival leaders inside the Civic Centre, on Friday. According to reports, AAP leaders were miffed over the Speaker’s call for the nominated members to take oath first, instead of the elected councillors.
The war of words between rival members in the Delhi Assembly soon turned into a battleground after the angry AAP leaders rushed to the middle of the House and started sloganeering against the interim Speaker Satya Sharma’s decision.
In the video, both AAP and BJP members can be seen shouting and pushing each other, targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during the clash, respectively. One of the members was seen throwing chairs at others.
The clash in the House erupted after the BJP’s Satya Sharma, who is the temporary Speaker appointed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, called one of the nominated members and councillor Manoj Kumar to take oath. Following this, AAP leaders started a ruckus in the House and asked that swearing-in of the elected councillors should be held first, instead of calling nominated members to take oath.
Soon after the high voltage drama during the first meeting of the MCD at the Civic Centre, the war of words began between AAP and BJP leaders, accusing each other for ruckus in the house.
Calling the BJP a party of “murderers-rapists-goons”, AAP leader and South Delhi’s Kalkaji MLA Atishi said that nominated councillors were illegally appointed and sworn-in first. “Everything is happening against the constitution,” said the leader.
AAP Leader Raghav Chadha also hit out at the saffron party and said that the BJP’s “last resort is hooliganism”, which can now be seen on the TV screens. “In Delhi MCD, BJP has tried every dirty trick and failed – from delimitation, and delaying elections to using their friendly uncle’s office to pump up numbers,” he tweeted.
The AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that the BJP is playing a “blood-game in the House”, and accused that the party wants to “murder” elected AAP councillors. Amid the blame game over the clash in the House, the BJP also criticised the AAP and said that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has been defeated morally.
“They (AAP) are chaotic people and their job is to spread chaos. When they have the numbers then what are they afraid of? This bullying is seen by their MPs in the Rajya Sabha as well and the same thing is happening here,” sadi Union minister and BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi.
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari claimed that four of his party members suffered injuries during the clash. According to him, one of them suffered a fracture, and the police will investigate the matter by checking the video recording of the proceedings.
The AAP was also upset over the names of the 10 nominated members appointed to the MCD by Governor Saxena. Calling the LG’s move “illegal and unconstitutional”, the AAP said that he was “bypassing” the elected Delhi government.
On Friday, all eyes were on the first elections to the post of mayor since Delhi’s civic body was unified last year. Shelly Oberoi is the AAP candidate standing against the BJP that has fielded Rekha Gupta for the polls.
Last month, in December 2022, the AAP had won 134 seats to end the BJP’s 15-year-long reign in the MCD, which is also Delhi’s second biggest decision-making body at the Civic Centre.
