The damp squib for the BJP on the hoardings issue has forced the party to consider bringing in a formal no-confidence proposal against the municipal commissioner in the MCD House.
The party had put up hoardings at paid sites against Delhi government’s alleged failure to rein in the private power distribution companies (discoms), while they exploited the common man. At least 30-odd such hoardings were put up across the city, but municipal commissioner K.S. Mehra got them removed.
When confronted in the House meeting, Mr Mehra said that he acted on the mayor’s order. He also cited a Supreme Court order which said that hoardings causing “hurt to individual or organisation’s sentiments” should be removed. The BJP councillors had, however, opposed the contention saying that the matter did not pertain to individual sentiments but to the public good. In the wake of the entire episode, the state party leadership, whose chief Vijender Gupta is also a BJP councillor, felt that Mr Mehra was acting as “an agent” of the Delhi government. Senior state leaders felt that chief minister Sheila Dikshit was trying to “remote control” the functioning of the MCD’s administrative wing, while the deliberative wing found it tough to get their directions carried out.