AAP suspends three MCD councillors after cross-voting in ward committee polls
The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday suspended three Municipal Corporation of Delhi councillors with immediate effect, a day after it alleged cross-voting during ward committee
The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday suspended three Municipal Corporation of Delhi councillors with immediate effect, a day after it alleged cross-voting during ward committee elections. Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj announced the action on X. The suspensions came after the Bharatiya Janata Party won the chairperson's post in 10 of the 12 MCD ward committees and secured five of the six seats in the civic body's Standing Committee. AAP won the remaining two ward committees and one Standing Committee seat, taking the BJP's strength in the 18-member Standing Committee to 12 members against AAP's six.
Read Full Story Those suspended are Nirmala Devi (Sharma) from the West Zone, Krishna Devi Raghav from the West Zone and Sultana Abad from the City SP Zone. The party said the councillors had cross-voted in the municipal corporation's elections. It also alleged that a chairman in the West Zone was elected through cross-voting. "In the West Zone, the chairman was elected through cross-voting and in the City SP Zone, councillors who cross-voted against the party have been suspended with immediate effect," AAP leader of opposition in the MCD Ankush Narang said in a statement on X.
The party said its message was clear that a "betrayal of the mandate and the party will not be tolerated". It added that strict action against those involved in anti-party activities would continue, saying, "Elections are not fought by an individual, but by the entire party." In the City SP Zone, AAP initially had seven councillors, the BJP had four and the Forward Bloc had one. After the results were announced, BJP candidate Usha Sharma got seven votes to win the chairperson's post, while AAP got five votes, with cross-voting by two councillors leading to the BJP candidate's victory.
The suspensions followed AAP's allegation that cross-voting affected the ward committee polls, as the BJP expanded its control in the MCD by winning most chairperson posts and further strengthening its majority in the Standing Committee. Ends
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