Excited BJP supporters on Monday stormed the House of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which unanimously elected its new Mayor, Deputy Mayor and three members of the Standing Committee amid chaos. Yogender Chandolia, the councillor from Dev Nagar in Karol Bagh Zone, was declared the Mayor. Karol Bagh councillor Ravinder Gupta was elected the Deputy Mayor.
As outgoing Mayor Azad Singh made the announcements, a large number of Mr. Chandolia’s and Mr. Gupta’s supporters entered the House, shouted slogans and rushed to the stage to congratulate the winners.
The BJP workers threw flower petals in the air as they jostled with each other and the councillors for a handshake with the new leaders. Though Mr. Singh and Leader of the House Mira Aggarwal appealed to the crowd to vacate the stage, the supporters remained in the House for the duration of the meeting.
In the commotion, BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi also got a mention. “Now good days are coming. All the problems we had with the Delhi Government and the Centre will disappear after May 16,” said Mr. Singh.
The Leader of the Opposition, Mukesh Goel of the Congress, did not take to the BJP’s sloganeering very well. To show their disgust with the proceedings, the Opposition walked out of the meeting.
“This was the first time in 17 years that I have been in the Corporation that outsiders were allowed to enter the House. The BJP supporters disrespected the House and our women councillors felt unsafe so we had to leave,” said Mr. Goel.
Mr. Goel blamed Mr. Chandolia and Ms. Aggarwal for allowing their supporters to cause a ruckus. “If our councillor says anything, they call in marshals, but if hordes of their supporters storm the House, they are silent,” he added, referring to a previous incident where a Congress councillor was removed for misbehaviour.
Despite all the commotion, Mr. Chandolia informed the House that he intended to work with the Opposition to make sure that the Corporation delivers on its core responsibility of sanitation.
Stating that the Opposition had a case of sour grapes, Mr. Chandolia said: “They just didn’t want to hear about Mr. Modi.”
Also elected on Monday were three Standing Committee members – Rekha Gupta, Dr. Sanjeev Nayyar and Prithvi Singh Rathore.
