MCD mayoral polls Minister accuses chief secy of bypassing govt over presiding officer appointment

New Delhi, Apr 24 (PTI) Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday asked the chief secretary to explain which legal provisions empowered him to bypass the elected government while sending the file on the appointment of the presiding officer for the MCD mayoral polls directly to the Lt Governor's Office, officials said.
    Bharadwaj, the urban development minister, had sought the chief secretary's explanation by 6 pm on Wednesday as the poll is scheduled for April 26, the officials said.
    On Tuesday, the AAP leader wrote to Lt Governor VK Saxena, alleging the chief secretary had bypassed him and sent the file related to the appointment of the presiding officer for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) mayoral polls directly to his office.
    In the letter, Bharadwaj requested Saxena to return the file to the chief secretary with an instruction that it should be re-routed through the urban development minister.
    The MCD mayoral poll is due on Friday, although approval for the presiding officer's appointment is yet to come from Saxena's office.
    The AAP government, through the Chief Minister's Office, routes the file having the name of the presiding officer to the Lt Governor for his nod.
    With Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in judicial custody till May 7, the issue had been hanging fire.
    AAP governs the MCD with 137 councillors in the 250-member House while the BJP has 105.

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