Aldermen appointment: MCD alleges politics, not to administer

Top officials including all three mayors of Municipal Corporation of Delhi have decided not to administer the oath of office to the aldermen appointed by Delhi government, alleging the appointments were made "with political considerations in mind."
"Mayors Sarita Choudhry (SDMC), Ram Narayan Dubey (EDMC), Azad Singh (NDMC), Leader of all three Houses - Subhash Arya, Mahindra Nagpal, B B Tyagi, Chairman Of Standing Committee in all three Houses -- Rajesh Gehlot, Ramkishen Singhal and Sanjay Surjan have decided not to administer the oath of office to the aldermen appointed by the Delhi government as it been made with political considerations in mind," MCD said in a statement today.

The three Mayors will call on the Lieutenant Governor to convey their decision over the alleged "wrongful appointment".
"Delhi government appointed 10 aldermen each to the East, North and South Municipal Corporations. But, the appointments were made ignoring the three municipal corporations and seems to have been made keeping in mind political affiliations rather than merit of the persons appointed," Leader of House in SDMC Subhash Arya said.
Section 3B of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, which earlier dealt with appointment of aldermen till 1997, no longer mentions aldermen as such. The word has been replaced by persons to be represented in the House of the Municipal Corporation. Still the government has nominated 30 aldermen, he alleged.

"In 2007, when BJP had majority in MCD, Congress had said the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi should not play a partisan role. The latest example of partisan role played by the LG was seen in the appointment of 30 aldermen to the East, North and South Municipal Corporations of Delhi," Arya said adding the appointments have been made keeping an eye on the coming Assembly polls.