Delhi BJP divided over choice of Mayor

Party insiders said the new team,which was cleared by the state party chief,has names of certain councillors who had failed to bring the party back to power in the 2002 municipal elections.

Sawhney was then the Standing Committee chairperson and Rajesh Gehlot the deputy mayor.

A few councillors are planning to meet national party president Nitin Gadkari in this regard,who will be in Delhi on Tuesday. They added that while Kohli had interacted with most party councillors to know their views regarding the selection,their opinion was largely ignored. There is also talk of ousting Subhash Arya,the leader of the MCD House,to bring in Ved Gupta instead. While Kohli and company insist Arya must remain the leader of the House,Thawar Chand Gehlot has hinted otherwise.

When asked about the same,Arya said he had been chosen to lead the MCD House for five years,of which three years are over,hence there is no dispute. “We had a state party meeting today. I was asked by the party chief and other senior leaders to keep the party together and there is no dispute regarding my tenure as the leader of the House,” Arya said.

Sawhney,meanwhile,chose to put aside all debate and concentrate on paving the road ahead. High on his agenda are increasing the revenue collection of the cash-strapped MCD,facilitating better co-ordination between the Executive and the Deliberative wing of the agency and ensuring that all Commonwealth Games projects are completed on time,he says.

Sawhney,who represents the Janakpuri (South) ward,is the chairperson of the MCD Education committee at present and was also an elected councillor from 1997 to 2000. He has held various important posts,including that of the MCD Standing Committee chairperson.

Powers of the Mayor
* While the Delhi Mayor represents the MCD,his administrative and financial powers are merely ornamental. According to the agency’s by-laws and the provisions of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act,the Mayor’s chief responsibility is to implement the civic projects approved by the MCD House. The Delhi Mayor has a year-long tenure. He/she also has a discretionary fund of Rs 1 crore at his disposal and all projects worth over Rs 25 lakh need to be approved by the Standing Committee or the Mayor,the DMC Act states. Besides,the Mayor is required to preside over the MCD House that has the authority over proposals,second to the L-G and the Home Ministry.
* The Mayor also has the power to grant anticipatory approval to MCD projects without giving them a representation before the House. He can also recall any MCDfile at any time,DMC Act provisions state.