New Delhi: With half of Municipal Corporation of Delhi‘s (MCD) standing committee members set to retire this month, the process for electing new members to the 18-member panel will begin soon.According to corporation rules, the tenure of a standing committee member is two years. However, one year after a committee is formed, half of its members retire through a draw of lots, officials said.A proposal will be tabled at the upcoming standing committee meeting, seeking permission to conduct a draw of lots at the next meeting to determine which nine members will retire.“Thereafter, in the next standing committee meeting, three of the six members elected from the House last year will retire through a draw. After that, six of the 12 members elected from the zonal ward committees last year will also retire, based on the outcome of another draw,” the official added.The balance of power in the standing committee, which has the authority to approve projects worth more than Rs 50 crore, will depend on the outcome of these draws, which has both BJP and AAP on the edge. The party that loses more members will have fewer chances of securing the chairman’s post. Once the names of outgoing members are finalised, the process to elect new members will begin after a proposal is approved by the House. “The election process to fill the vacancies created among members elected from the House is expected to take place in April-May, while elections in the respective ward committees to replace the retired members will be conducted in May-June,” sources said.At present, among the six members elected from the House, three belong to BJP and three to AAP. Among the 12 members elected from the ward committees, eight are from BJP and four from AAP. BJP currently enjoys a strong position in the House, which helped it win the mayor and deputy mayor elections last year. However, if all three House members retiring through the draw turn out to be BJP councillors, the party may be able to regain only two seats based on its current numerical strength, making it difficult to win the third seat. Overall, out of six standing committee members, it will be left with only two members. Conversely, if all three AAP members have to retire following the draw, BJP could potentially win all two seats, and AAP will be left with a lower number of seats in total.After the recent by-elections, the equations of AAP and BJP councillors have changed in some zonal committees. In the south zone, BJP’s Jagmohan was earlier elected to the standing committee, but AAP’s victory in Deoli and Congress’s win in Sangam Vihar seat altered the political arithmetic. Similarly, in BJP-held Narela zone, AAP’s victory in a by-election made the contest tighter.Any change in these zones could impact the power equation within the standing committee.In June 2025, after a gap of two-and-a-half years, MCD’s first standing committee was formed following the civic polls held in Dec 2022. As the committee was not constituted for a long time, the lieutenant governor exercised his powers and got the election conducted by appointing the deputy commissioner as the presiding officer. The move was also challenged by AAP in Supreme Court. Elections for the MCD mayor are scheduled to take place next month.
