Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday announced the members of the Delhi Haj Committee that included a Congress councillor, evoking sharp reaction from AAP which alleged a nexus between BJP and Congress ahead of the mayoral election of the MCD.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed the notification "illegal" and said neither government was consulted nor a proper process was followed.
The Haj Committee members include BJP MP Gautam Gambhir, two Aam Aadmi Party MLAs - Abdul Rehman and Haji Yunus, Congress councillor Naziya Danish, Muslim theology expert Mohammad Saad and Kausar Jahan as a member from Muslim voluntary organisations.
BJP said all required processes were followed by the LG.
Sources at LG office refuted the allegation, saying proper procedure was followed and Naziya Danish was not made chairman of the committee.
The Congress which has nine ward councillors opted out of the 250-member MCD mayoral poll. The party has said that it won't be a part of the election and its councillors won't be present in the house during voting.
AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj, earlier in the day said that Congress leader of the House in MCD Naziya Danish strikes a deal with BJP.
"The deal of Congress and BJP has been exposed. The best case scenario for BJP was to make Congress walk out of the House. And Congress has agreed to that. In return, the BJP has made MCD Congress leader Ms Naziya Danish a member of Haj Committee," tweeted Bhardwaj.
The maiden meeting of the newly elected MCD House was adjourned without electing the mayor and the deputy mayor amid loud protests by AAP councillors over first administering oath to the 10 aldermen.
The next date will be announced later, BJP councillor Satya Sharma, the presiding officer overseeing the process, earlier said.
Kejriwal wrote a letter to LG Saxena mentioning several other incidents which according to him were attempting to bypass the MCD rules.
The nomination of 10 aldermen to the MCD, dictating names of the Haj Committee by allegedly bypassing the Delhi government, and not nominating the seniormost person as the presiding officer, were some such instances he cited in the letter.
He later tweeted that the LG dictated these names and directly got notifications issued from officers.
"Hon’ble LG dictated these names n (and) directly got notification issued from officers. No process, no elected govt? Constitution thrown to the winds Sir, just becoz (beacuse) u (you) control bureaucracy thro (through)“services”, u are able to get all ur illegal directions implemented," he tweeted.
BJP MP Gautam Gambhir reacted to Kejriwal's tweet, saying, "One who has always broken all protocols & processes suddenly cares about them? Don’t worry CM, all required processes were followed!"
