Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday asked the BJP to accept defeat in the recently concluded MCD polls and facilitate the smooth conduct of mayoral elections.

On Tuesday, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) House was adjourned without electing a mayor and deputy mayor following a ruckus by some councillors.

Sisodia, a senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, also accused the BJP of "running away from the election of the mayor". "Everyone saw the drama of the BJP. The public had gotten fed up with their rule in the MCD. They gave mountains of garbage and ruined the entire capital," he said.

"First, they avoided MCD elections and when the public has shown them the door, they are running away from the election of mayor," he further alleged.

Sisodia said the BJP has become "Bhagti Janata Party". If it (BJP) believes in democracy and the Constitution, the saffron party should accept their defeat in the MCD polls and ensure a smooth election of mayor, he said. "We demand that the MCD House be reconvened and the mayoral election be held today only," Sisodia said. He further alleged that the BJP is strangulating democracy to keep the MCD under its control in an unconstitutional manner.

 In a similar vein, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said, "The BJP was losing the mayor's election, so they got the house adjourned.  The LG should decide the time of the election today itself. The AAP has the support of 151 councillors, MLAs and MPs while the BJP has the support of only 111 corporators and MPs."

Singh claimed the BJP has started a "dangerous" trend, if they do not win elections, they do not allow the winning party to form a government.

He also alleged that BJP councillors assaulted women councillors of the AAP in the presence of Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi and former health minister Harshvardhan.

Hitting out at the BJP, Singh alleged that the mandate given by Delhi's two crore people to Arvind Kejriwal and his party has been "strangulated", as the MCD House was adjourned without electing a mayor. The MCD could not elect a mayor as its proceedings were adjourned on Tuesday, a second instance of the new House convening for mayoral poll but not being able to complete the process. Addressing his party members inside the MCD House after it was adjourned, the Rajya Sabha MP said the BJP is running away from mayor's election as it is "losing it badly". "Through the fourth pillar of democracy, I wish to appeal to the Lt Governor, the Home Minister and the Prime Minister and people of the country and tell them that the mandate given by two crore people of Delhi to Arvind Kejriwal and AAP has been strangulated," he said. The mayor election is not being allowed to take place and the BJP is starting a "very dangerous tradition", Singh alleged. Later, the AAP also paraded its 151 members in the MCD House — 135 councillors, 13 MLAs and three MPs — to prove that it had the numbers in its favour to have a mayor from the party.