New Delhi: BJP councillor Satya Sharma from Gautampuri ward was unanimously re-elected as the chairperson of Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s standing committee for the second consecutive term Monday. BJP’s Satyapal Singh from Karawal Nagar West was also elected unopposed as the committee’s deputy chairperson.Following her election, Sharma said the councillors from both the party in power and the opposition would be given equal opportunities to present their views. She added that public welfare schemes and development projects announced in the previous financial year’s standing committee budget would be implemented within stipulated timelines.The first meeting of the newly constituted committee witnessed protests from AAP members over changes in the eligibility criteria for the tender to appoint a contractor for toll tax and environment compensation charge collection. The conditions were revised without discussion in the committee, they alleged.Sharma said the proposal was approved by the MCD house in 2025 and there was no scope for revisiting the decision. “While the standing committee did not discuss the matter, the house had approved it after considering that MCD was incurring losses of Rs 27 lakh per day because of delays in finalising the agency,” she pointed out.“The new committee was constituted after a four-month delay despite BJP having a majority. The party is securing approvals for key proposals without discussion in the standing committee to benefit select operators,” alleged Praveen Kumar, AAP’s MCD in-charge and a committee member.The changed tender condition requires bidders to have operated at least 122 toll lanes — 50% of the total lanes — under a single contract for two years. An aggrieved bidder also challenged it in Delhi High Court, claiming it unfairly favoured a limited number of companies, but failed to get any relief. Some bidders also wrote to the lieutenant governor and the chief minister.Kumar said the financial bids were opened on July 16 and only three of the seven bidders qualified. He claimed that the civic body had expected an annual revenue of over Rs 1,100 crore from this contract, but the tender was awarded at an annual value of Rs 963 crore, resulting in an estimated revenue shortfall of Rs 137 crore every year.Sharma said MCD had followed the norms in awarding the contract.
