Centre plans repeat of Chandigarh 'cheating' in Delhi mayoral polls claims AAP govt

    New Delhi, Apr 23 (PTI) The AAP government in Delhi on Tuesday alleged the BJP-ruled Centre wants to repeat in MCD the "cheating" they attempted in Chandigarh mayoral polls.
    The charge came after Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj wrote to Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, alleging the chief secretary had bypassed him and sent a file related to the appointment of a presiding officer for Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) mayoral polls to the L-G office directly.
    Bharadwaj, in his letter to Saxena, requested the L-G to return the file to the chief secretary with an instruction that it should be rerouted through the Urban Development minister.
    No immediate reaction was available from the LG office and Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar on the minister's claims.
    In a statement, the AAP government said, "It appears that BJP-ruled Central government wants to repeat the same cheating they attempted in Chandigarh Mayor elections. They will try to manipulate the mayoral elections of the MCD as well."
    They will face the same "embarrassment" they faced in the Supreme Court in Chandigarh mayoral election case, it said.
    Eight votes polled in Chandigarh mayoral elections held in January this year were declared invalid by the returning officer. The Supreme Court later ruled the votes valid and declared the joint candidate of the AAP and Congress as the winner of the polls.
    In his letter to the L-G, Bharadwaj said the matter was a transferred subject and according to the Constitution, it came under the control of the elected government of Delhi.
    Therefore, like previous years, this file should have been routed through the urban development minister, he said.    
    "However, it is clearly evident from the file movement, that the CS (chief secretary) Naresh Kumar has deliberately bypassed the undersigned. He is very well aware that the chief minister is in judicial custody. However, he knowingly sent the file to the office of CM and as expected he got that file returned to him. And then he sent the file directly to your good self (LG)," Bharadwaj claimed.    
    During the mayoral election of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in January last year, the issue of appointing a presiding officer led to a dispute between the AAP and BJP as the LG nominated a BJP councillor to the post.
    Alleging that there was a "conspiracy" to bypass the elected government of Delhi in the matter of appointment of the presiding officer for the mayoral polls, he alleged the conduct of the chief secretary was against the directions of the Supreme Court.
    "This is not the first time that CS Naresh Kumar has deliberately chosen to bypass the elected government in the matters of transferred subjects," he alleged, citing a previous issue over the approval for a foreign tour of the MCD mayor.
    Bharadwaj claimed that there are many other examples where the chief secretary "deliberately bypassed" the elected government and no action was taken against him.
    "It is requested that your good self may take appropriate action against CS Naresh Kumar for his deliberate and repeated misconduct," the minister said in his letter.
    The mayoral poll of MCD is due on April 26 although approval for the appointment of the presiding officer of the election is yet to come from the L-G office. The government, through the Chief Minister's Office, routes the file having the name of the presiding officer to the LG for his nod.
    With Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in judicial custody till May 7, the issue was hanging fire. The Aam Aadmi Party rules the MCD with the majority of 137 councillors out of a total of 250 while the BJP has 105 councillors in the House of the civic body.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)