LG includes Congress councillor in Delhi Haj committee, AAP alleges nexus with BJP

Jan 06, 2023

New Delhi [India], January 6 : Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Friday included a councillor from Congress in the Delhi Haj Committee, a move that came after the ruling Aam Aadmi Party alleged a nexus between the BJP and Congress ahead of the Mayoral polls.
According to a notification issued by the Delhi LG, six members were included in the Committee including BJP MP Gautam Gambhir, AAP MLAs Haji Yunus and Abdul Rehman, newly elected Congress councillor Naziya Danish, Mohammad Saad and Kausar Jahan.
Notably, on the eve of the voting for the Mayoral polls which was slated today, Congress had decided to walk out from the House along with its 9 councillors. But Aam Aadmi Party raised questions on the decision of the Congress this morning and alleged that this has happened under an agreement with the BJP.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi said while speaking to ANI, "A deal has been struck between the Congress and the BJP, in lieu of staying out of the proceedings of the MCD House, Naziya Danish of the Congress has been made a member of the Haj Committee."
AAP MP Sanjay Singh alleged that the BJP has made a favour to Congress with this move.
"Besides making members of the Haj Committee, the BJP has done a favour to the Congress councillors by giving them Rs 50 lakh each. This is the murder of democracy," he alleged.
Naziya Danish is the newly-elected councillor of Congress from the Zakir Nagar ward of Okhla. The Congress made him its leader of the House in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi only yesterday.
Earlier today, Kejriwal termed the move to invite the nominated councillors for taking oath ahead of the elected ones in the Mayoral polls "unconstitutional" while citing the Constitution.
"Article 243R of the Constitution clearly debars nominated members from voting in the House. Attempt to get them to vote in the House is unconstitutional," Kejriwal tweeted sharing the snippet of the Article.
This comes after a high-political drama broke out over the swearing-in of nominated councillors in the Civic Centre in which the aldermen (those who traditionally cannot vote) to the civic body were invited to take the oath.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also hit out at the BJP and accused the party of "stooping low" to "hide the misdeeds" in the MCD.
"BJP people will stoop so low to hide their misdeeds in MCD! Elections were postponed, illegal appointment of the presiding officer, illegal appointment of nominated councillors, and now the public's elected councillors are not being administered oath.... If you cannot respect the verdict of the public, then why the elections?" Sisodia tweeted in Hindi.
Amid chaos and clash between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party councillors at the Civic Center on Friday, the MCD House was adjourned even before the commencement of voting for mayoral polls.