Appointment of presiding officers for MCD polls pending as deadline looms

New Delhi

The appointment of 12 presiding officers for holding elections to ward committees of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is still awaited, despite the elections being scheduled for September 4, senior municipal officials said on Monday.

The official said that 12 different presiding officers need to be appointed by the mayor by 5pm on Tuesday.

“Files regarding the appointment of the presiding officers were moved to the mayor’s office on Friday but no response has been received so far. The mayor can appoint these presiding officers till 5pm on Tuesday otherwise the election notice for holding polls will need to be withdrawn,” a senior official, requesting anonymity, said.

Mayor Shelly Oberoi did not respond to HT’s request for comment.

Each of the 12 sets of elections will see the election of a zonal chairperson, deputy chairperson and standing committee members. The electoral college of each committee will comprise elected councillors of a particular zone and nominated aldermen.

A presiding officer is expected to conduct the election for the post of chairman of a zonal wards committee, regulate the conduct of the election and resolve any dispute. “The election for zonal chairperson will be held first after which the role of presiding officer will end. The chairperson will then hold the elections for deputy and standing committee members,” the official said.

MCD has fixed hourly time slots for holding committee elections at two different locations within the Civic Centre.

The role of Satya Sharma, a BJP councillor who was appointed presiding officer for mayoral elections last year, was under the spotlight as she had ruled that nominated aldermen would vote in the elections. Her directions were later overturned by the courts.

With the view of the possibility of chaos in the zonal elections, the corporation issued a set of guidelines stating only councillors and nominated members would be allowed to enter the corporation headquarters and political workers and relatives would be barred. “Only the members of the ward committee for which the election will be held will be allowed to sit in the committee room along with the corporation employees engaged in the election process,” the official said.

“No councillor and nominated member will be allowed to carry mobile or other electronic equipment into the polling booth. Media personnel will also be allowed to watch only the live feed, for which arrangements have been made in the house of councillors chamber. We have also requested the Delhi Police about the election to deploy the personnel,” the official said.