AAP will win MCD polls no matter what: Delhi CM Kejriwal

Reacting to the final MCD delimitation report, Kejriwal said the BJP “can do anything” but AAP will win the election

Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday criticised the notification of the final delimitation order by the ministry of home affairs, freezing the new boundaries for the 250 municipal wards in the city, claiming that the delimitation has multiple irregularities, but adding that the AAP will win the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections with a huge mandate nevertheless.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal criticised the notification of the final delimitation order issued for the redrawing of boundaries of the MCD wards. (PTI)

The Congress too criticised the delimitation order, claiming that their feedback was not taken into account, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hailed the notification, thanking Union home minister Amit Shah for the completion of the exercise, clearing the way for elections to the MCD.

Kejriwal said, “It is being said that the delimitation has multiple irregularities. Some wards have a population of 90,000 while others have 30,000. Many cases where the population was evenly distributed have now been disturbed.”

The CM said BJP “can do anything” but AAP will win the election. “People are with Aam Admi Party. Whatever they (BJP) want to do, they will be wiped out in the election,” he said.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Anil Chaudhary said the notification was a mere formality as it did not incorporate any of the 168 suggestions or objections filed by the party. “Our suggestions were not carried out in the final report and it is a betrayal of the people of Delhi, and Congress will approach the Delhi high court for justice, for upholding the democratic norms and to protect the interest of Dalits and Minorities,” he said.

Chaudhary said the three erstwhile MCDs were merged into one on “flimsy grounds” to postpone the elections in a bid to favour the BJP. “The final report not only did not adhere to the norms laid down for the delimitation of the wards, like restricting the population in each ward to 65,000 with a 10% plus-minus variation, but also divided the Dalit and Minority-dominated wards into adjacent wards to diminish their population strength so that BJP and AAP could gain unfair advantage in the MCD elections,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, state BJP chief Adesh Gupta hailed the decision. “BJP welcomes the report of the delimitation in the municipal corporation and we are all set for elections. The delimitation report has come after very detailed deliberations with the representatives of the people and political parties. They had placed their objections and recommendations before the delimitation commission. Based on this feedback, the commission has finalised its report and submitted the final report to the Union home ministry. We thank Union home minister Amit Shah for this. After this report, now the work of integration of the corporation has been completed and the way has been cleared for the elections to the corporation,” he said.