New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party declared victory after the Supreme Court announced on Friday that nominated members in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) cannot vote in the Mayoral polls. The election for Mayor of Delhi has been delayed for about two and a half months.
Along with demanding the resignation of L-G V.K. Saxena, the AAP also charged the BJP and the Delhi L-G with illegitimately running the municipality during the holdup.
After the SC verdict, AAP MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak declared to the media, "Delhi L-G has no moral right to continue in his post... He must resign immediately. The Supreme Court's ruling is a tight slap on the face of BJP and L-G."
He claimed this was a huge win for the Aam Aadmi Party and the people of Delhi, and that it would finally break the BJP's grip on the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
"Delhi will finally get its Mayor and Deputy Mayor after two-and-a-half months. Now the dream of cleaning the city does not seem unachievable. For the last two-and-a-half months, the BJP and the L-G have been illegally controlling the municipality, taking undemocratic decisions on their own will," he said.
Reiterating AAP's faith in the judicial process, Pathak said, "This judgement is going to be remembered for days to come. It will increase the faith of the public in the judiciary. This judgement will also stand as a reality check for the BJP, whom the court has told in bold words that it must sit in the opposition now."
The court, headed by India's Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, had earlier on Friday ordered the publication of a notice convening the first meeting of the MCD within 24 hours and assigning the date for electing the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and members of the MCD's standing committee.
The bench, which included Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala, agreed with the AAP's argument that the newly elected mayor, rather than the pro-tem presiding officer, should preside over elections for deputy mayor and standing committee members.—Inputs from Agencies