MCD panel members' election: Hours after the municipal House was rocked by fresh clashes between the councillors of the BJP and the AAP, Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Friday announced that the elections for the same will be held on February 27 and added until then the house will remain adjourned.
While speaking with media persons on Friday late at night, Oberoi alleged that a few members of the Bhartiya Janata Party inflicted a life-threatening attack on her.
Also, she alleged that her colleague Ashu Thakur was attacked by another BJP councillor, however, there was no immediate reaction from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Shortly before the media interaction held at the Civic Centre, the mayor adjourned the House and announced that the election to six members of the standing committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will be held afresh on February 27 at 11 am.
Atishi alleges she was dragged
AAP MLA Atishi alleged Thakur was held by her scarf and dragged from the dais to one of the exit gates of the House.
"We will go to the Kamla Market Police Station and lodge a case of a life-threatening attack on Mayor Shelly Oberoi and our other women councillors," Atishi said.
Scenes of uproar and high-decibel protests by BJP councillors were witnessed in the House after Oberoi declared that one vote cast during the election to the standing committee of MCD on Friday, was "invalid".
Leaders clashed with chairs
The bedlam in the House turned into a full-blown pandemonium and violent clashes broke out between many councillors of the AAP and the BJP.
Mayor Oberoi had barely started to announce the results when the ruckus began. One councillor even ripped off the mayor's mike on the dais.
"When I was announcing the standing committee election result, they (BJP councillors) pushed my chair and attacked me. BJP councillors Ravi Negi, Arjun Marwah, Chandan Choudhary and others inflicted life-threatening attack on me," she alleged.
She said ballot papers used on Friday have been "torn" and lost so as a moral responsibility, the fresh election will be held for picking the six members of the MCD panel.
Atishi alleged that what BJP members did on Friday was akin to "booth capturing". "The BJP must accept its defeat in the MCD polls. They should not try to use violence to get back door entry into (MCD) governance," she said.
House adjourned until Monday
The mayor also alleged that the ruckus on Friday amounted to disrespect of the House and the chair of the mayor, and was "sheer hooliganism".
Ashu Thakur, later talking to reporters, said her scarf was wrapped around her neck. "I was dragged by the scarf from the dais to an exit door, and if the cloth had tightened longer, it could have suffocated me to death," she added. Later, AAP supporters held a protest outside the Kamla Market Police Station.
(With inputs from agencies)
