New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Friday directed Municipal Secretary Siva Prasad KV to initiate the long-pending election process for the formation of the Standing Committee, which has been delayed for over one and a half years.

Citing the Supreme Court's order on the appointment of aldermen, Oberoi issued an order to the municipal secretary asking him to start the process for the election of the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Wards Committee, as well as one member each from the 12 zones of the MCD to the Standing Committee.

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The Aam Aadmi Party which has majority in the MCD and the opposition BJP had been at loggerheads over the issue after which the matter went to the Court.

As per the DMC Act, six out of the 18-member Standing Committee, MCD's highest decision-making body, are elected from the House, while the remaining 12 are elected from the ward committees constituted in each of the 12 zones of the civic body.

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"..You are directed to start the Election process for the election of Chairmen, Deputy Chairmen of the Wards Committee and one member to the Standing Committee from the Wards Committee as per provisions of the DMC Act, 1957 (amended 2022) immediately," the order stated.

The formation of the committee has been pending for over one and a half years amid a political deadlock as the AAP had challenged the nomination of 10 aldermen by LG VK Saxena in the Supreme Court.

The Court on August 5 upheld the Lt. Governor's power to make the appointment, ruling out the Delhi government's plea that the LG is bound to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers in nominating 10 aldermen.

On May 17 last year, the top court said that giving the LG the power to nominate aldermen to the MCD would mean that he could destabilise an elected civic body.

The AAP had earlier expressed apprehension that the nomination of the aldermen would give BJP members an upper hand in the committee.

A ruckus broke out in the MCD House last year during the appointment of the aldermen halting the proceedings.

As the mayor has now given her clearance to hold the elections for the committee, the civic body will first hold elections for the ward committees in each of MCD's 12 zones.

After this, the elected councillors of the parties who are part of the ward committee will vote to elect a chairman, a deputy chairman, and a committee member, according to an MCD official.

The 10 aldermen are eligible to cast their votes to elect a standing committee member in their respective zones. They, however, do not have the power to vote in the House. Finally, the members of the house will vote for the remaining six members of the committee.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)