BJP ran away: Kejriwal in 1st salvo over delay in announcement of MCD poll dates

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s reaction came minutes after Delhi state election commissioner SK Srivastava in a press conference, in which he was slated to announce the dates for the city’s MCD elections (to be held next month), refrained from doing so citing a communication from the Centre

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday criticised the state election commission for allegedly “buckling under pressure” from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government and deferring the announcement of the schedule for elections to the city’s three municipal corporations.

New Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal asked, “Can the central govt ‘direct’ any EC to delay/cancel any elections? Under which provision? Are these ‘directions’ binding on EC? Why is the EC buckling under pressure? Modiji Ab Is Desh Mein Chunav Bhi Nahi Karayenge? (Modi, will you now stop elections as well in this country?)” (ANI Archive)

“The BJP ran away. The MCD election has been postponed because the BJP has conceded defeat. The people of Delhi are very angry. They are saying, how dare they not conduct the elections now. We will forfeit their deposit now. In our survey, we (AAP) were to win 250 of the 272 wards. Now more than 260 will be ours. But the election commission should not have come under BJP’s pressure,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.

His reaction came minutes after Delhi state election commissioner SK Srivastava in a press conference, in which he was slated to announce the dates for the city’s MCD elections (to be held next month), refrained from doing so citing a communication from the Centre.

“As the central government raised few issues that are yet to be legally examined by us, we’ll not be able to announce MCD election dates as of now… The Centre wants to reorganise and unify the Delhi municipal corporations… We’ll take some more days. We’ve to conduct the elections before May 18,” Srivastava said.

It also came just a day ahead of the assembly election results for five states including Punjab, where the exit polls have suggested a victory for the AAP.

BJP leaders have called the move “municipal reform”, and accused the AAP of withholding funds meant for the civic bodies.

In another tweet in the evening, Kejriwal asked, “Can the central govt ‘direct’ any EC to delay/cancel any elections? Under which provision? Are these ‘directions’ binding on EC? Why is the EC buckling under pressure? Modiji Ab Is Desh Mein Chunav Bhi Nahi Karayenge? (Modi, will you now stop elections as well in this country?)”

The poll panel’s move took the AAP by surprise, which had scheduled a press conference after the SEC’s briefing to inform reporters about the party’s preparation and campaign in the run-up to the polls. The event was later cancelled, and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia held an unplanned briefing, in which he called the move a “murder of democracy”.

“Like you all, the AAP was also expecting the MCD election dates in the SEC press conference. But this has come as an absolute shock. The Delhi government was not informed about the Centre’s plan to unify or reorganise the MCDs. Previously, when the MCDs were trifurcated, it was done in the Delhi Assembly. Now we will have to see what the central government has planned,” Sisodia said.

At least 10.4 million voters are eligible to vote in the upcoming polls.

The terms of the South, North and East Delhi municipal bodies — with 272 wards under them — will expire on May 18, 19 and 22 respectively. The erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was trifurcated in 2012.

During the 2017 civic body polls, the last date for nominations was April 3. The elections were held on April 23 and the results were announced on April 26.

The BJP secured 181 seats during the 2017 polls, the AAP won 49, and the Congress sealed 31.

The BJP has governed the three municipal corporations for 15 years now.

Sisodia, during his press conference, said that instead of deferring the MCD polls, the Union government could have postponed its plan of unifying the three civic bodies.

“This is murder of democracy. For the first time in the history of Independent India, an election commission refrained from announcing the date for an election, despite a scheduling a press conference to do just that. The BJP has no courage to face defeat in the MCD polls,” he said.

“If EC starts to take decisions under the pressure of BJP then what does democracy mean? We (AAP) know BJP has no confidence to face Delhi’s people. They are scared of losing the election, but why EC is scared of BJP? The Indian constitution has given all the power to EC to make their decisions independently but the way EC has knelt down to BJP, it is dangerous to the constitution and democracy,” Sisodia said.